She comes from the Mecca of tourism, but is travelling in the opposite direction: Cati, a resident of Tenerife, is one of the ever-increasing number of tourists fleeing the heatwave for a cool holiday in northern Europe.
Perched at the top of the continent, countries like Norway and Sweden are now playing the ” coolcation » – contraction of the English « cool vacation » (cool holidays) – in order to attract visitors to their temperate latitudes.
Why leave the Canaries in the middle of summer? “Well, to escape the heat,” confides the Spanish Cati Padílla on a getaway with three friends.
“And Norway has been on our radar for a long time for its green landscapes, its mountains, its ice,” adds the fifty-year-old civil servant met on the heights of the “troll road”, an emblematic route which winds through the mountains towards the fjords.
In 2023, the number of overnight stays by foreigners increased by 22% in Norway – with a record in August – and by 11% in Sweden, according to official statistics, an increase also driven by the end of health restrictions in 2022 and by a drop in Scandinavian currencies.
According to a survey conducted in Germany for the promotional organization Visit Sweden, two out of five people plan to change their travel habits because of the heat in southern Europe.
Most often by choosing other times of the year but also by opting for new destinations.
” There “coolcation“It’s not just about the weather,” says Susanne Andersson, head of the promotion organization Visit Sweden. “It’s about traveling to places where the weather is a bit cooler but which are also more cool because there are fewer people.”
Exit crowded Mediterranean beaches and the furnace that led to the partial closure of the Acropolis in Athens in June and is causing wildfires elsewhere.
Many people today prefer to take a dip in a lake or fjord, or fill their lungs with fresh air on a mountain excursion in a feeling of relative isolation.
The deadly summer
Fresh off a cruise ship anchored at the bottom of the majestic Geiranger Fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pam, an English tourist from Lichfield, says she packed a raincoat and some woollens in her suitcase as she had been advised.
“I didn’t think I’d be standing here in sandals, a T-shirt, and even shorts yesterday. It’s wonderful,” she said, in bright sunshine. “But it’s not so hot that we can’t walk around.”
“I’m not interested in just sitting on a deckchair, reading a book, getting up only to eat something and come back. I prefer to visit places, discover their history, simply admire beautiful places.”
According to UN climate experts (IPCC), it is “almost certain” that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and the duration of heatwaves have increased since 1950 and will continue to do so with global warming.
By 2050 in Europe, around half of the population could be exposed to a high or very high risk of heat stress during the summer, and the number of deaths linked to heat stress could double or even triple, with a warming of between “1.5°C and 3°C”.
“Spain is a no. Greece is a no,” says Gérard Grollier, a 74-year-old French retiree, interviewed as he gets off the coach in the village of Geiranger.
Why Norway? “Because the climate is much more pleasant and there are destinations that I will not or will not go to anymore, at least not in the spring-summer season because it is much too hot there,” explains his daughter, Virginie, a financial advisor.
“We have not been able to protect our planet and today, this also has consequences for tourism,” she says.
Submerged villages
The capital of Finnish Lapland straddling the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi also saw a 29% jump in overnight stays last year.
” There “coolcation“This trend is felt here and has already started years ago, but it has been intensified by the painfully hot summers in southern and central Europe,” says Sanna Kärkkäinen, who is responsible for promoting tourism there.
A windfall that is not without its problems: explosion of AirBnb, unscrupulous tourists, etc.
“What worries us most, of course, is that there will be too many people at the same time,” says Jan Ove Tryggestad, mayor from 2011 to 2023 of a Norwegian municipality where an imposing cruise ship capable of carrying 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members has just docked.
“It’s a small village here. In Hellesylt, there are between 280 and 300 inhabitants in the winter. Of course, it’s a bit of a culture shock when suddenly a small town, by European standards, comes along,” he says. “But we adapt.”