Swedes' top travel destination revealed
Fresh statistics from Sweden's biggest travel magazine have revealed Swedish people's favourite holiday destination - and it's not Thailand.
You can't blame the Swedes for wanting to escape for a sunny weekend away. And according to statistics from Vagabond magazine's annual Resebarometer, Swedes prefer to do it in Spain.
In fact, in 2013, Swedes took 2.04 million trips to Spain - an 8 percent increase compared to the year before. Swedes have almost doubled their penchant for Spain in the past three years.
"It's no surprise that Swedes love Spain," The Local Spain Editor George Mills said. "It's cheap, you're pretty much guaranteed sun and warm weather, and the people are friendly."
"Recent political problems in Turkey and Egypt haven't hurt Spain's tourism numbers either. Spain is a safe bet for people who might be nervous about heading to the other end of the Mediterranean at the moment." IN PICTURES: See the best Spanish beaches via The Local Spain 
TOP TEN: Spain's coolest hotels via The Local Spain
Denmark came in a distant second with 1.18 million visits, sinking by 8 percent compared to 2012.
Outside of Europe, Swedes headed most to the US with 534,000 trips - enough to earn the land of the free 11th place. Close behind, at 12th, was Thailand.
Estonia, with almost 200,000 visitors was the fastest growing tourist destination, up over 50 percent compared to 2012. Poland, which dropped to 17th most popular, suffered the biggest drop in popularity losing 18 percent of its Swedish visitors.
The Mediterranean Sea was another big draw card for the Swedes, seeing a 150 percent increase since 1990 last year, boasting over 5 million visits.
Other popular destinations for travelling Swedes included neighbouring Norway and Finland, the UK, and Germany.
The magazine noted that to count as a trip, travellers needed to stay at least one night.
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You can't blame the Swedes for wanting to escape for a sunny weekend away. And according to statistics from Vagabond magazine's annual Resebarometer, Swedes prefer to do it in Spain.
In fact, in 2013, Swedes took 2.04 million trips to Spain - an 8 percent increase compared to the year before. Swedes have almost doubled their penchant for Spain in the past three years.
"It's no surprise that Swedes love Spain," The Local Spain Editor George Mills said. "It's cheap, you're pretty much guaranteed sun and warm weather, and the people are friendly."
TOP TEN: Spain's coolest hotels via The Local Spain
Denmark came in a distant second with 1.18 million visits, sinking by 8 percent compared to 2012.
Outside of Europe, Swedes headed most to the US with 534,000 trips - enough to earn the land of the free 11th place. Close behind, at 12th, was Thailand.
Estonia, with almost 200,000 visitors was the fastest growing tourist destination, up over 50 percent compared to 2012. Poland, which dropped to 17th most popular, suffered the biggest drop in popularity losing 18 percent of its Swedish visitors.
The Mediterranean Sea was another big draw card for the Swedes, seeing a 150 percent increase since 1990 last year, boasting over 5 million visits.
Other popular destinations for travelling Swedes included neighbouring Norway and Finland, the UK, and Germany.
The magazine noted that to count as a trip, travellers needed to stay at least one night.
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