Coolcation: The Fake Summer Travel Trend Made Up by the Media

According to the media, taking a “coolcation” to escape the summer heat at traditional summer holiday destinations is the new travel trend.

However, there is absolutely no evidence to back up this so-called coolcation travel trend, which is far more a media hype than something genuinely happening in society.

What is a coolcation?

Coolcation is simply a portmanteau of the words “cool” and “vacation”, referring to a holiday in a colder country to escape the summer heat.

Traditionally, most Europeans have flocked to Mediterranean destinations such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece for their summer holidays.

However, if we are to believe the media, many travellers now consider these countries too hot and are actively seeking out less traditional summer destinations, such as Scandinavia.

The term coolcation was first used in 2023 and began gaining some traction in 2024.

This year, it has really risen to prominence in international media, with major publications in countries as diverse as the US, UK and Germany publishing article after article about the trend.

Are coolcations replacing traditional summer holidays?

It is true that some travel destinations in countries with a cooler climate have experienced a significant surge in tourist arrivals.

However, this does not mean that people travelling to these destinations are actually doing so in search of a coolcation.

Travel is booming more than ever, with a growing number of people around the world able to go on holiday, and those who have travelled for many years now taking more trips each year.

In itself, it is therefore not surprising that cooler countries – such as those in Scandinavia – are also seeing strong growth in tourism.

After all, there are hardly any countries these days that are actually experiencing a decline in tourist arrivals!

It’s not as if a Spanish summer holiday has suddenly become less popular, as Spain also recorded a record number of tourists.

Is there any significant number of travellers now abandoning traditional summer holidays in Southern Europe in favour of trips to the Nordic countries, as the coolcation hype suggests?

The numbers don’t support this so-called coolcation trend, and even anecdotally I see nothing to back it up, as none of my friends or family who are devoted to spending their summers in their favourite southern European countries are abandoning those plans.

Real travel trends that are mistaken for a coolcation

There are a few real travel trends happening at the moment that the international travel media is mistaking for their made-up coolcation hype.

The coolcation is therefore not some kind of media conspiracy aimed at imposing it on the public, but rather newspapers and online publications simply parroting each other while overlooking the real trends.

Let’s take a look at the most important of these travel trends.

Popularity of cooler destinations

Many cooler destinations, particularly in Northern Europe, are experiencing a significant surge in popularity among international tourists.

However, these tourists are not visiting the Nordic countries for the cooler climate, but because they are genuinely interested in seeing the sights, especially the natural attractions.

Just as social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok catapulted Greek islands such as Santorini and Mykonos into the international tourism mainstream (with islands like Paros next in line to fall victim to overtourism), the same is now happening with some destinations in Northern Europe.

Because Norway’s Lofoten archipelago went viral on social media, it is now facing overtourism similar to cities like Barcelona and Venice, with all the familiar issues such as traffic jams and homes being purchased by wealthy foreigners as holiday houses or for conversion into tourist accommodation.

In Finland, locals in Rovaniemi – known as the home of Santa Claus – have complained that their city is now experiencing overtourism as well.

It’s not as if tourists are heading to the Lofoten or Finnish Lapland to escape the summer heat in southern Europe – they are travelling there because these destinations are on their bucket list.

Transport links

The way international tourism works is that an increase in a destination’s popularity goes hand in hand with improved accessibility.

Sometimes a tourist destination becomes more popular, prompting airlines to launch new routes to serve this new demand, but it can also work the other way around, with increased availability of (often low-cost) flights paving the way for an increase in tourist arrivals.

It’s mostly the former happening in Northern Europe, as airports such as Tromsø and Rovaniemi – which historically had limited service and were expensive to reach – have seen a huge increase in the number of flights, often seasonal routes but sometimes year-round.

Take Tromsø, for instance, which now has year-round flights with Air France to Paris, as well as new seasonal routes with Iberia from Madrid, Aer Lingus from Dublin, and easyJet from both Paris and Milan.

Where previously travellers had to connect through hub airports such as Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo or Helsinki to reach regional destinations in Northern Europe, many destinations can now be reached by direct flight, making travel not only easier but also increasing the number of available seats.

Indeed, historically most people would visit Northern Europe with their own car on a long drive across the continent, but nowadays you can just as easily fly there and get around using public transport, guided tours, or a rental car.

Travel trends in Southern Europe

There are also some genuine travel trends happening in Southern Europe that the media is somehow presenting as false evidence to support their coolcation hype.

First of all, there is the major travel trend of an extended summer holiday season in the countries around the Mediterranean, with some southern European destinations nowadays being as popular in June or September as they are during the peak months of July and August.

Of course, many tourists still travel in July or August because of their children’s school holidays, but many travellers without school-age kids now choose to go in June or September.

The previously clear lines between peak and shoulder season are gradually blurring, as more and more travellers can take time off in these months instead of the high summer, or are taking additional trips.

Part of this trend is also driven by oversaturation at traditional holiday hotspots during the high summer, with travellers discovering that visiting Southern Europe in the shoulder season has many advantages, including avoiding the increasingly high prices and crowds of July and August.

Of course, an additional benefit is enjoying much more pleasant weather when visiting the Mediterranean in months like June or September, as it is generally not as hot as during the peak summer months.

However, that does not mean this should be considered as a coolcation trend!

Climate change

Although climate change is real and clearly affects many holiday destinations, it has so far not driven any significant changes in travel patterns.

Anyone who has spent years going on holiday to the same Southern European destination will tell you that it could be unbearably hot even back in the 1980s.

It’s unsurprising that in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, shops and restaurants close after lunch, as the afternoons are often too hot and local people traditionally take a siesta, returning in the evening when it is cooler.

If anything, travelling to Southern Europe and dealing with its heat has only become easier in recent decades, as most cars, hotel rooms and holiday homes now have air conditioning, which wasn’t the case not so long ago!

As the Washington Post put it, Southern Europeans’ resistance to air conditioning is waning as temperatures soar.

Looking at Northern Europe, it is also not entirely true to say that it is significantly cooler there in summer, as heatwaves can occur in the Nordic countries as well.

As CNN rightly put it: “There’s no such thing as a ‘coolcation’ — you’ll be sweating buckets on your Arctic getaway.”

Indeed, I spent many summers as a child in Northern Europe, getting my skin burned by the hot sun and finding relief from the high temperatures by jumping into the many lakes of countries such as Sweden and Finland, with its waters being as pleasant for a swim as the Mediterranean Sea.

Visiting Northern Europe can certainly be a great idea if you’re interested in the region’s many sights and outdoor activities, but you are not part of some wider coolcation travel trend, as that is entirely made up by the international media.

Conclusion

The coolcation travel trend, supposedly driving tourists from the heat of Southern Europe to the cooler climates of the North, is entirely a media invention.

Although certain destinations in Northern Europe are indeed becoming more popular, there is no significant shift of tourist numbers from the south to the north.

People are not only travelling more, but an increasing number of people worldwide can now take holidays, driving up tourist numbers everywhere.

The reason some places in Northern Europe are now in the media spotlight is simply social media, as the Norwegian fjords, the Lofoten, Lapland, or a chance to see the Northern Lights have captured people’s interest and been added to many bucket lists.

Simply put, people visit Northern Europe for its cultural and natural attractions, not for the cooler climate, and they are certainly not ditching their Mediterranean summer holidays for a coolcation!