At a glance
Summer 2023 can be considered a "summer of extremes". What impact did this have on Redion's activities?
2023: the summer of extremes
Summer 2023 will undoubtedly go down in history as the summer of extremes, with unprecedented climate shifts and highly unusual circumstances. While southern Europe and the Canadian provinces were ravaged by unprecedented heatwaves and devastating wildfires, other regions such as Slovenia and northern Italy had to contend with the sudden ferocity of severe storms. Meanwhile, in our own country, it was a real treasure hunt to find a few rays of sunshine.
The impact of summer 2023 on Redion's activities
- Redion opened fewer medical files during the 2023 summer holidays (from 30 June to 27 August) but provided more technical assistance abroad than during summer 2022, which was already an exceptional year at the time with very high numbers of people going on holiday after the Covid years.
- A greater number of medical files were opened abroad during the hottest periods for gastrointestinal problems as well as heart problems and heatstroke.
- Redion handled nearly 69,000 incoming phone calls requesting assistance. In addition, several thousand files were opened directly via the company's app.
Medical files in summer 2023
Between 30 June and 27 August, Redion opened 8% fewer medical files compared with the same period in 2022. However, in 2022, the increase was significant due to the high number of departures after the Covid years. The number of medical files is therefore almost similar to that of the years before the Covid pandemic.
In countries affected by the heat, Redion opened many files following gastrointestinal problems among younger people (under 20). Among those over 50, cases were more often linked to heart and respiratory problems, as well as neurological issues (including those caused by heatstroke).
The intense heat in the Mediterranean weighed on the holiday activities of many Belgians, forcing them to rest and cool down during the hottest hours of the day rather than engaging in physical activities (such as sports or sightseeing).
The vast majority of medical cases were opened in France (18%), Spain (mainland Spain and the islands: 16%), Italy (7%) and Greece (4%). The number of cases in the United States stood at 5%, once again reaching pre-pandemic levels. 78% of files were opened in Europe (compared with 80% in 2022).
Technical assistance for vehicles
Abroad, Redion opened 4.5% more technical assistance files compared with 2022, which was already a record year at the time. The most frequent technical interventions were engine breakdowns, battery and starting problems (67%), technical problems due to carelessness (keys locked in the vehicle, wrong fuel and tyre failure) (18%) and accidents (10%). These mainly took place in France (43%), Spain (11%), Germany and Italy (8%) and the Netherlands (6%).
In Belgium, the number of breakdown interventions also increased by 4.5% compared with last year. On this point, it's also worth noting that the school holidays for French speakers only started on 8 July, a week later than for Dutch speakers.
Map of Redion's summer 2023 interventions
During summer 2023, Redion Belgium opened assistance files on every continent (145 countries and territories).
The map below shows that requests for assistance came flooding in from all over the world. It illustrates, by colour code, the total number of medical files recorded worldwide and the technical interventions carried out on vehicles in Europe.
