Tourism in Transition : Exploring how destinations in Sweden adapt to the Coolcation trend

This study explores how Swedish tourism destinations adapt to the emerging Coolcation trend, driven by climate change and shifting traveler preferences towards cooler, more authentic destinations and being in nature. Through semi-structured interviews with 18 Swedish tourism stakeholders, the research highlights changes in visitor behavior, leading to multifaceted opportunities and challenges. Understanding the Coolcation trend helps tourism businesses and destinations to stay competitive and meet the tourist demand. The study explains the current state of tourism in Sweden, as well as how destinations can develop in the future, while adapting to the impacts of climate change. This will be done by first explaining the theories based on previous research and then testing and discussing them in connection to the empirical findings. Although Coolcation offers chances for growth, it also brings challenges such as uneven distribution of visitors throughout the year. This creates the need for sustainable practices, adaptation strategies and policies for long term planning.