Swedes fleeing the weather

1.5 million Swedes flee the winter weather and darkness in Sweden this year. 

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  Sun, palm trees, and beaches – that’s what many Swedes want for Christmas. Traveling over the holidays has increased, and the most popular place to go this season is the Canary Islands. Above: A beach on the island of Tenerife.

• 1.5 million Swedes flee the winter weather and darkness this winter, that's over one hundred thousand more than last year. The travelers longing for the sun are influenced by both the long Christmas vacation as well as the poor weather this past summer.
  “Many more have booked trips over Christmas and New Year,” says Martin Durnik, Marketing Director at Ticket Privatresor. “And they booked their trips early, right after the summer with its bad weather.” Last winter season, barely 1.4 million trips abroad were booked during December-January, according to statistics from Rese-och Turistdatabasen, where they also predict an increase with 10% for the same months this season. The traveling industry believes in an even higher increase in trips booked around Christmas and New Year. Ticket is experiencing a 45% increase of bookings.
  “The reasons are that the Swedish krona is still strong, and it’s a favorable Christmas when it comes to days off, and also the weather last summer,” Durnik continues. So where do the Swedes go for Christmas and New Year’s? Most popular are the Canary Islands, followed by Thailand, and Egypt. According to Ticket, London is most popular for those Swedes who want a big city Christmas experience. “The increase in trips to New York has stopped,” says Durnik. “It may have to do with hurricane Sandy a few weeks ago.”