Wales recorded a 141% year-on-year increase in flight search interest for summer, the highest growth figure among destinations in the company’s global coolcation dataset. 

This is according to Trip.com Group search data from January 2026, accessed via the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). 

The data tracked global flight searches from June to August 2026.

Trip.com Group, one of the world’s largest online travel platforms, reports a 74% year-on-year increase in overall searches for what it calls coolcation destinations since January 2026.

TL;DR

• Wales saw 141% year-on-year growth in flight searches for summer 2026, the highest of any destination globally in Trip.com Group’s coolcation dataset
• Overall searches for cooler destinations surged 74% year-on-year since January 2026.

Ranked: Rising Destinations For Summer 2026

The European coolcation surge is documented across five countries, all cooler than the Mediterranean destinations that have defined European summer travel for decades.

Slovenia recorded 110% year-on-year growth in flight searches, the second-highest figure globally.

Slovenia is a country of approximately 2.1 million people. Lake Bled, Triglav National Park, and Ljubljana old town have spent years carefully building sustainable tourism, specifically to avoid the overtourism that has overwhelmed Croatia, Venice, and Dubrovnik. 

The Surge in Asia 

The Asian coolcation data, which covers both flight and hotel searches, shows a pattern driven significantly by domestic travel within China and Japan rather than international inbound tourism.

Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China bordering the Mongolian steppe, recorded 85% year-on-year growth. 

Inner Mongolia is not a traditional international destination. 

Its 85% surge is primarily Chinese domestic travelers from southern and eastern China, where cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu increasingly record dangerous summer heat, seeking the cool grasslands of the north. 

The same logic applies to Yunnan, a high-altitude province in southwestern China, at 43% that has long attracted domestic visitors for its cooler temperatures compared with China’s coastal lowlands.

Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido in northern Japan, recorded 82% growth. Average summer temperatures in Sapporo hover around 26°C. 

On Japan’s main Honshu island, Tokyo regularly exceeds 35°C in July and August, with heatwaves increasingly reaching 38 to 40°C. 

The 82% Sapporo search surge is Japanese domestic and international demand for Japan’s coolest accessible city.

What the Climate Science Says

The World Meteorological Organization confirmed 2024 as the hottest year in recorded global history, the second consecutive annual temperature record after 2023. 

European heatwaves in 2023 and 2024 produced excess mortality, wildfire evacuations across Greece and Portugal, and emergency heat protocols in France, Spain, and Italy. 

The summer conditions that make Mediterranean beach resorts the dominant destination of European travel for three generations are the same conditions that are now making them clinically dangerous in peak season.

The destinations experiencing the highest search growth share a single climate characteristic: mean summer temperatures between approximately 12°C and 22°C. 

This range (which previous generations of travel marketing considered too cool for summer appeal) is now the most searched temperature band in global travel data.

ELI5

Because summers are getting dangerously hot, people are now planning vacations in cool places instead of traditional sunny spots. 

Wales, which is usually cloudy and mild, has become the most searched travel destination in the world, with 141% more people looking it up than last year. 

Norway, Iceland, and Slovenia are also surging. People would rather be a little cold than suffer in a heatwave on a beach.

Source: 

Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) | World Meteorological Organization |