Coolcations are booming as tourists prioritize quieter, off-peak trips

Tourists are booking cooler, quieter and fewer crowded vacations this 12 months, pivoting away from Europe’s traditional summer hotspots amid growing concerns over blistering heat and raging wildfires.

The trend reaffirms the phenomenon of so-called “coolcations” — a portmanteau of “cool” and “vacation,” which refers to tourists in search of cooler climes as a substitute of a hot, peak-summer destination.

Record-breaking heat has swept across Europe in recent days, pushing temperatures in some areas well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and fueling regional wildfires.

Jenny Southan, CEO of travel trend forecasting agency Globetrender, described the summer of 2025 as “a turning point for European tourism, underscoring that no destination is actually resistant to climate volatility.”

Extreme heat is made way more likely by the climate crisis, the chief driver of which is the burning of fossil fuels.

Heatwaves and wildfires across popular vacation destinations in Spain, Portugal and Greece have taken their toll on local infrastructure in recent weeks, triggering mass evacuations and shuttering beaches.

Alarmingly high temperatures have also been recorded in Nordic countries comparable to Norway, Sweden and Finland, posing a direct challenge to the notion that northern Europe “offers guaranteed relief” in peak summer, Southan told CNBC by email.

“This double blow has accelerated a behavioural shift already in motion: travellers are avoiding probably the most intense heat periods, favouring cooler coastal or alpine locations, moving trips to spring and autumn, and experimenting with higher-latitude destinations from the Baltics to the Scottish Highlands,” Southan said.

Data published last month by the European Travel Commission (ETC) showed that travel stays a top priority for Europeans despite economic uncertainty.

The ETC found that heightened concern about overcrowding had prompted tourists to spend their 2025 summer vacations in less popular or off-the-beaten track destinations, while interest in traditional hotspots has declined.

“Our latest data shows that, even amid shifting economic and social realities, Europeans usually are not willing to compromise on travel, and so they increasingly prefer quieter destinations and trips outside peak seasons,” ETC President Miguel Sanz said in an announcement.

Global travel network Virtuoso said in its latest advisor survey that 79% of respondents agreed extreme weather events impacted travel planning, while 55% reported that their clients were selecting to travel at off peak times as a result of the climate crisis.

Nicholas Smith, holidays digital director at Thomas Cook and the eSky Group online travel agency, said there had been a surge in alternative seasonal selections this 12 months.

“One among the fastest-rising trends amongst British travellers is the ‘coolcation’ – swapping peak heat for more temperate destinations,” Smith told CNBC by email.

European destinations comparable to Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and increasingly Poland were amongst those attracting tourists who want lively vacations, comfortable weather “and experiences with real depth,” Smith said.

One other one in all the winners to emerge from the coolcations trend has been the small central European country of Slovenia, which has received growing interest in higher altitude, cooler destinations.

“As a consequence of increasingly high summer temperatures and the rising demand for quality leisure time in nature, visitors are increasingly selecting destinations at higher elevations, which provide diverse experiences and lively opportunities all year long. And in addition lakes and rivers are favorable destinations,” a spokesperson for the Slovenian Tourist Board told CNBC by email.

Southern European countries comparable to Greece, Spain and Portugal are all heavily reliant on tourism, with the most recent available data showing the sector accounted for 18%, 12.3% and 11.9% of gross domestic product, respectively.

Linda Jonczyk, a spokesperson for TUI, Europe’s largest tour operator, said the corporate was seeing growing interest in Nordic destinations comparable to Iceland, Norway and Sweden as a result of the coolcations trend. Yet, bookings were still relatively low in comparison with other traditional summer hotspots.

“Classic sun and beach destinations across the Mediterranean proceed to be high in demand – Spain, Greece and Turkey are and remain the undisputed favourites,” Jonczyk told CNBC by email.

For its part, Portugal’s national tourism authority said summer demand in key regions stays robust. A spokesperson for Turismo de Portugal said that while some regions within the north and center were managing localized wildfires, the overwhelming majority of the country was unaffected.

“Portugal’s tourism infrastructure is very prepared to reply to such challenges, with contingency measures in place to make sure minimal disruption,” Turismo de Portugal told CNBC by email.

“Airports and ports across the country are operating at full capability, and the tourism sector stays strong — with summer arrivals in key regions matching or surpassing last 12 months’s numbers,” they added.