How "shoulder season" became popular with tourists
As people seek to avoid extreme heat and beat the crowds, off-season travel is more popular than ever
Travel companies are seeing a surge in demand from March to early May and September to October as vacationers seek to avoid heat waves and overtourism.
Last month, the Mastercard Economics Institute's Travel Trends report highlighted a shift toward off-season travel. Based on aggregated and anonymized transaction data, the report found that the share of off-season overnight stays in the European Union has increased by 1.8 percentage points over the past decade.
Mediterranean destinations such as Croatia have seen the most significant shift away from peak summer months, with similar trends observed in countries such as Sweden.
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