Las Vegas and Other Global Destinations Face Tremendous Rising Cooling Crisis as Demand Soars 60% with New Reports Revealing Dangerous Things for Travellers

As global temperatures rise, the American traveler’s expectation of reliable, ice-cold air conditioning is poised to collide with a massive strain on worldwide energy grids. According to a new report from DNV released ahead of COP31 in Norway, a major shift in global electricity consumption is underway. For the US tourism sector—spanning outbound international travel, domestic hospitality, and travel tech—this unprecedented demand for cooling will reshape infrastructure planning, destination viability, and sustainable travel commitments.

The 2035 Forecast: A New Era of Energy Demand

The DNV analysis, Burning to cool: COP31 has a cooling challenge, reveals that electricity demand for cooling will surge by more than 60% over the next decade. By 2040, global electricity consumption for cooling is forecast to increase by 80% from its current baseline of approximately 2,800 terawatt-hours.

For the travel industry, the scale of this shift is staggering:

• Cooling will account for 13% of all global electricity demand by 2035.
• Air conditioning demand will require twice as much electricity as electric vehicle (EV) charging or artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

While the travel sector has heavily invested in EV rental fleets and AI-driven booking platforms, the sheer energy weight of keeping hotels, airports, and commercial spaces cool will vastly outpace these emerging technologies.

Impact on Top Destinations for US Outbound Tourism

As American household incomes remain strong and travel to emerging markets accelerates, US tourists are venturing further into regions where air conditioning is just beginning to scale. This rapid expansion of residential and commercial cooling access will create significant grid volatility in major tourist hubs.

South East Asia: A Quadrupling Demand

Long favored by American backpackers and luxury resort-goers alike, South East Asia faces a monumental infrastructure test. DNV projects that cooling electricity demand in the region will quadruple over the next 15 years. As local populations achieve the purchasing power for domestic AC units, and as tourism developers expand cooled resort floor plans to combat rising heat, regional power grids will be pushed to the brink. Hospitality brands catering to US tourists must prepare for potential power distribution shortages and the necessity of investing in localized, efficient cooling systems to prevent blackouts during peak travel seasons.

The Indian Subcontinent: Demand Triples

The Indian Subcontinent, a growing market for US cultural and heritage tourism, will see its cooling demand triple over the next 15 years. Ensuring American travelers have access to comfortable, temperature-controlled accommodations will require immense additional electricity supply. The rapid build-out of commercial floor space means that destination developers must integrate high-efficiency cooling technologies now, or risk overwhelming local grids and alienating eco-conscious travelers.

The Domestic Advantage: North America’s Steady State

For the domestic US tourism market, the outlook is notably different. DNV forecasts that North American cooling electricity demand will increase by just over 5%.

Because air-conditioning is already deeply entrenched in US infrastructure—from Las Vegas mega-resorts to Florida theme parks—the domestic market will not face the same explosive growth curve as emerging destinations. Interestingly, much of North America’s newly projected cooling load will be driven by data centers. For the travel industry, this means the server farms powering global airline reservations, AI travel agents, and digital hotel management systems will be a primary source of new cooling demand, rather than the hotels themselves.

This stability gives US domestic tourism a distinct operational advantage, benefiting from continued grid decarbonization and fewer infrastructure shocks.

Sustainability, COP31, and the Eco-Conscious Traveler

The tourism industry is under mounting pressure from American consumers to deliver sustainable, low-emission travel options. However, DNV’s research highlights a looming contradiction: the rising demand for AC threatens to offset the emissions benefits of a cleaner global energy grid.

• The Global Cooling Pledge (launched at COP28) targets a 68% reduction in cooling-related emissions by 2050, alongside a goal to increase new AC efficiency by 50% by 2030.
• The Reality Check: DNV projects that CO₂ emissions from space cooling electricity will decline by only about 40% toward mid-century, falling significantly short of international ambitions.

In rapidly developing tourist destinations like South East Asia, the initial surge in AC adoption will actually cause cooling-related emissions to spike before eventually falling as local grids transition to renewables. Conversely, North American hospitality will see a steady drop in cooling-related emissions due to moderate demand growth and rapid domestic grid decarbonization.

Global hospitality leaders and tourism boards will need to navigate this tension carefully. Relying on historical energy data will no longer suffice for future resort planning. Success in the next decade of travel will require heavy investment in next-generation, high-efficiency cooling technologies, ensuring that the American expectation for comfort does not come at the expense of international climate commitments.

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