Last year was a record year for Swedes traveling abroad – but this year could be even better for travel organizers.

“Many Swedes want to know for sure they’ll get some sun,” says Director of Marketing at the travel agency Ticket, Martin Durnik. “Even if the weather’s good here now, you never know what the rest of the summer will be like in the Nordic countries.”
Turkey is the most popular destination at the moment, followed by Spain. In total Swedes made 8.5 million vacation trips out in the world beyond Scandinavia and the Baltic states last year. Compared with 2010, that’s an increase with 12%. Compared with 1992, it’s a 50% increase in global vacation traveling. All according to the travel magazine Vagabond’s travel barometer. And new numbers from Ticket shows that 2012 is an even better year, already bookings for the summer has gone up 10% since 2011. In spite of shaky financial times, Swedes keep spending like before, even more, when they are on vacation. According to travel agency Apollo, 24% of all vacationing Swedes plan on spending more money this year than they did last.
“The summer vacation gives us a breather,” says Kajsa Moström at Apollo. “These are weeks we treat ourselves to, when we spend time with our families, friends, and relatives. Therefore it is one of the items in our budget we put the highest priority on.” Due to the economic crisis in Greece, that destination had decreased with 10% since last year, though at the same time it seems more Swedes are considering Swedes as summer is drawing closer. “The interest in Greece has increased little by little during the spring, and at Ticket we now see a renewed interest, compared to at the beginning of the year,” says Durnik. “Crete was then 5th on the top list for destinations, the island has since climbed up to the 3rd spot.”