ADVERTISEMENTTourists are bucking the traditional summer norms and holidaying in cooler countries this year.
More and more tourists from central and southern Europe, where summer temperatures can reach as high as 30 or even 40C, are heading to Umeå in Sweden.
With its 17C July weather, peaceful and quiet atmosphere and absence of traffic jams, Umeå is proving to be a very popular tourist destination, with tourists arriving in troves.
Camping manager Charlotte Nillson noticed that an increasing number of people from Finland were making it to Luleå's largest camping site. She believes the explanation is the weak Swedish krona.
Visitors from the Netherlands are also among those who have chosen Sweden over Spain, for one, and Nilsson believes successful marketing campaigns are behind this.
“The Dutch come into reception and tell us that they’ve seen Norbotton on TV and now they’re going up to the North Cape,” she says.
Sweden has also seen an increase in foreign home buyers throughout the northern European country of some 10.5 million. Climate change is another significant reason for this.
Andre Hamacher and Angelina Pril moved from Germany into their new Swedish abode in May. They bought the holiday home in Arvidsjaur four years ago but didn't initially plan to live there full-time until last year.
“We get over 40C degrees in the summer; it’s cooler here,” said Hamacher.