Northern Europe sees spike in holiday bookings as Mediterranean region expects more heat

Following the heat, drought and forest fires in southern Europe in 2023, tourists are increasingly looking to northern Europe in 2024, the holiday home platform Fewo-direkt has found. According to an article in newspaper Berliner Morgenpost, the availability of Swedish holiday apartments in July is "already below 50 percent in some cases," making the country as popular a vacation destination as traditional European hotspots like Mallorca or Lake Garda. Tourism researcher Harald Zeiss said that he believes climate change is having an increasing influence on travelers' decisions. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events, "such as heat and forest fires in the Mediterranean region, are causing holidaymakers to consider other destinations in future." As 2023 was globally recognised as the hottest year since the start of weather data collection, the platform suggests that the trend towards northern holiday destinations could be linked to extreme temperatures recorded in Spain or Italy: "The high occupancy rates in Sweden could well be a consequence of the heatwaves in southern Europe in the summer of 2023," Fewo-direkt manager Wolfgang Pagl told the newspaper. "It seems that many families want to secure a holiday residence in the cooler north right at the start of this year."

2023 also was the hottest year in Germany since records began in 1881, according to preliminary analyses by meteorological service DWD. The year's average temperature reached 10.6 degrees Celsius, 1.3°C higher than the reference period 1991 to 2020. Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and floods, have underlined the urgent need to prepare the country for the worsening effects of climate change. Germany introduced its first national heat protection plan in 2023 with the aim of halving excess mortality linked to high temperatures. The government also elevated its climate adaptation efforts, making it legally binding for the federal, state and local authorities to address climate risks and develop appropriate strategies.