Asian travelers seek 'coolcations' to beat heat

Asian travelers are increasingly seeking destinations that offer cooler temperatures and a special kind of exoticism

As temperatures rise across the globe, driven by climate change and global warming, many Asian travelers are deserting beaches and tropical islands for vacations in cooler locations from Scandinavia to the mountains of Vietnam.

Key takeaways

• Data from Google Trends shows a 100% global increase in the search term "cooler holidays" over the 12 months to May 8. Booking.com also says that 2024 will be a year of travel to cooler climates, while Virtuoso notes that 82% of its customers are considering cooler destinations this year;
• Dubbed "coolcations" in the travel industry, this new trend means taking a vacation that avoids suffocating heat. Instead of heading to the beaches of Thailand or Bali, many tourists are traveling to places such as Alaska, Norway and Canada - all of which also provide a more exotic travel experience for Asian travelers;
• Many of these Northern Hemisphere locations are better known globally as winter destinations, but summer trips benefit from extremely long hours of daylight -- Oslo gets 19 hours in July, for example, providing plenty of time for vacation experiences.

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