Late rush for sun holidays

With many people in Sweden desperate to shed their raincoats for swimming trunks and bikinis, tour operators are reporting a surge in interest for sun holidays.

Published: 9 July 2007 16:32 CEST

The sudden rise in demand has meant that last minute sun holidays now cost an average of 2,000 kronor more than they did earlier this summer.

As the hunt for trips to southern Europe intensifies, Sweden’s major tour operators are all running low on holiday packages for July.

“If there was a rush for sun holidays previously, Swedes are now suffering from rain-related panic,” said Jim Hofveberg, a spokesman for Fritidsresor spokesman .

Over the last weekend Sweden’s tour operators managed to sell twice as many holidays for August and September as for the same period last year.

“When people can’t get hold of a July trip, they book for August or September,” said Hofveberg.

The most popular destinations this summer are Turkey, Cyprus, Crete, Mallorca and Bulgaria.