Is the rush to the Arctic Circle really the smartest way to beat the summer heat, or is it just the fastest way to burn through your savings?
The travel industry is obsessed with "coolcations" – flocking to Scandinavia, Alaska and Iceland as global temperatures rise. But many of the cool destinations have become overcrowded tourist traps.
Maybe the smart move this summer is a "hotcation": Head straight for the heat, where luxury is cheap and the air conditioning is cold.
The cold hard truth about coolcations
The marketing pitch for a coolcation is simple: Escape the sweltering summer by heading north. But the reality can be a sweaty, expensive mess.
Terence Leung, a marketing manager from Calgary, followed the herd to Scandinavia last July. He expected a quiet getaway but found rooms
had doubled in price and ferry routes were fully booked. Worse, he ran into a heat wave in Oslo.
"I was in hotels without air conditioning," he recalled. "People started pacing the hallways at midnight, unable to sleep."
Adam Tank, a tech executive from Kansas City, had an even worse experience in Iceland. Trying to beat the late summer heat, he rented a car to drive the island's famous ring road. After a mudslide delayed his arrival in a northern village, he got lost and asked a police officer for directions.
"They said yes to my request and asked me to follow them," said Tank. But instead of leading him to his vacation rental, the police drove him 30 minutes out of town into the middle of nowhere.
"The cops clearly weren't thrilled with the amount of tourism and didn't want us in their town," he said.
Is the 'coolcation' just a marketing gimmick?
According to industry insiders, the coolcation trend isn't an organic response to climate change, but a calculated move to sell inventory.
"It is a classic inventory problem solved with premium branding," said Delbert Lee, a former vice president of sales for a tour company. He explains that companies identified destinations with low summer demand and repackaged them as exclusive escapes, charging 30% to 40% more for infrastructure that was never built to handle peak crowds during the summer.
Samuel Huang, CEO of an ad agency in Singapore, agrees. His firm has been tracking worldwide advertising content for years, and it's seen a 30% to 40% increase in ad spend targeting warmer regions with arctic imagery.
"This marketing push creates an artificial scarcity that inflates prices for subpar infrastructure," Huang said. He noted that negative online reviews for these destinations are climbing by 30% quarter-over-quarter.
Lorena Basualdo, a luxury travel adviser who specializes in Italian vacations, pointed out that northern gateways have brief summers and limited transport slots.
"You’ll still find limited AC, small elevators, scarce shade structures, undersized water stations, and transit timetables that can’t stretch during surges," she warned.
The case for the 'hotcation'
While everyone else is fighting for a view of a glacier, the "hotcation" – embracing the heat in places like Phoenix, Dubai, or Madrid – is emerging as a value play.
"A luxury hotel in Dubai or Phoenix operates at a loss during its summer off-season," explains Lee. He said these properties offer 50% to 70% discounts not as a special deal, but as a baseline necessity.
Amanda Persi, CEO of The Getaway Co., agrees that hot destinations can offer better value, but warns that travelers must be honest with themselves about the heat.
"Sightseeing all day in the sun isn’t always realistic," Persi said. She notes that if you treat the trip less like a checklist and more like a lifestyle – slowing down and resting by the pool during the day – the experience can be magical.
Leung, who felt burned by his Scandinavian adventure, eventually tried this approach.
"During peak heat, Phoenix and Madrid were empty and cheap," he said. The resorts had shaded areas, ice-cold air, and open pools. "Heat can be managed," he added. "Scarcity and crowds can’t."
I've spent a few summers in hot-weather destinations like Phoenix and the Florida Keys, and I'm with Leung on this one. The tourists leave, and the rates drop faster than the temperature in your air-conditioned hotel room.
But is it a fair comparison?
Of course, not everyone agrees that swapping a glacier for a desert pool is a valid comparison. Jared Sternberg, founder of Gondwana Ecotours, argues that comparing Alaska to Phoenix is meaningless.
"One is about immersion in wild landscapes, long daylight, wildlife, and remoteness; the other is about urban comfort," Sternberg said.
Experts also defend the high prices of remote destinations. Sternberg notes that Alaska faces significantly higher infrastructure costs and shorter operating seasons.
Andrew Harrison, a travel advisor with OvationNetwork, points out that the high price tags in Scandinavia reflect the reality of the local economy.
"Scandinavia has the highest fuel and labor costs in the world, and the prices for the trip reflect that," Harrison said.
Travelers are voting with their wallets
Despite the warnings, it looks like travelers are trending toward hotcation this summer. Lauren McCormick, a spokeswoman for the travel insurance company Squaremouth, said interest in hot-weather destinations for this summer has outpaced demand for cool-weather getaways.
Squaremouth's data shows interest in Costa Rica has jumped nearly 41% and Italy is up 24%, while searches for Norway have dropped by nearly 18%.
Still, she warned that a hotcation comes with risks.
"Hot destinations, especially during summer months, bring added health and safety considerations, such as heat-related illnesses," she said. McCormick recommended either travel insurance or medical insurance with at least $50,000 in medical coverage and $100,000 for medical evacuation.
How to travel smarter this summer
If you want to avoid the "coolcation" trap but aren't ready to bake in the desert, there are middle-ground solutions.
- Wait for the shoulder. Mitch Krayton, a Denver travel agent, warns against the Arctic or Alaska in high summer. "Go in the shoulder season or off season to avoid the crowds and get the best rates," he said. For Alaska, that means September and October.
- Look for alternative cool spots. Sam Bruce, co-founder of Much Better Adventures, suggests looking at cooler places outside the obvious circuit, like Estonia, where you can enjoy milder summers without the overcrowding.
- Check the AC. Don't assume a northern hotel is equipped for a heatwave. Basualdo said you must ensure your room has an air conditioner. "Filter out the ones that don't," she said.
So this summer, you might not want to hang out with the cool kids heading north with the herd. They're putting a strain on the infrastructure, and ironically, they may suffer through a heatwave without air conditioning.
Ultimately, the hottest summer destination might literally be the hottest summer destination.
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coolcations aren't cool anymore. Why you should travel to a hot place
