European travelers are increasingly choosing cooler northern destinations for their summer holidays because repeated heat waves are making traditional Mediterranean spots too hot to enjoy. Tourism officials and data agencies say this is not a one-off shift but a lasting change in how people pick their vacation destinations.

The European Travel Commission's 2025 data show that climate change affects 81% of travelers, according to reporting by Anadolu Agency (AA). European tourism officials say record heat waves are pushing travelers toward the "shoulder seasons" (the weeks just before and after the busiest summer months) and toward northern destinations. This trend, sometimes called a "coolcation," is gaining momentum across the continent (Yeni Şafak). By late July 2026, the trend had drawn enough attention to be covered as a sustained boom, with the Mediterranean still popular even as northern alternatives attract growing numbers (Daily Sabah).

The Netherlands is one northern European country feeling the effects. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), both Rotterdam and The Hague welcomed 1% more guests in 2025 than in 2024, while Amsterdam saw 9.5 million guests over the same period (CBS). CBS also reported that Dutch airports handled over 21 million air passengers in the second quarter of 2026, but with fewer flights overall, meaning the planes that did fly were more crowded (CBS).

The Hague, whose beach districts of Scheveningen and Kijkduin are among the most visited stretches of Dutch coastline, has been getting ready for heavier summer crowds. On 24 March 2026, The Hague & Partners kicked off the 2026 beach season with a new boulevard and festivals in Scheveningen, Kijkduin, and the city center (The Hague & Partners). The city's Coast Action Plan ("Actieplan Kust") lays out measures for summer 2026 covering both Scheveningen and Kijkduin, including plans for traffic, travel, and parking (City of The Hague). The plan notes that the beach and boulevard are popular with residents and visitors in the summer months, which sometimes causes problems (City of The Hague).

Managing large crowds has become a major priority. The Hague employs crowd control managers as part of its coastal action plan; Marjet de Jager, one such manager, described how enormous crowds toward the boulevard and beach were managed under the plan's framework (City of The Hague). On 6 June 2026, the municipality carried out a large-scale enforcement action in Scheveningen, saying that safety and livability are under pressure along the coastal strip, particularly on the boulevard, in the harbor, and in Duindorp (City of The Hague). The city also maintains a terrace policy ("terrassenbeleid") with rules for placing and using outdoor café seating so that streets and squares remain accessible (City of The Hague).

Beyond leisure tourism, The Hague & Partners combines its strengths to attract and retain business visitors, conferences, tourists, and residents (The Hague & Partners). The organization inspires international visitors, businesses, and conferences to come to The Hague (The Hague & Partners), and the city welcomes international events related to New Energy, Finance, Legal, and Policy (The Hague Convention Bureau). The 6th Annual Global Legal Forum & Global Legal Excellence Awards are scheduled for The Hague on 5-6 March 2026 (The Hague & Partners).

The bigger picture is that climate change is redrawing Europe's tourism map, and northern cities are only beginning to figure out how to handle it. The 81% figure from the European Travel Commission is striking not because it confirms what people already suspected, but because it puts a number on the share of travelers whose decisions are now shaped by climate. A decade ago, that number did not even exist as something tourism experts could measure. Cities like The Hague are absorbing demand that used to flow to the Mediterranean, and the strain on local infrastructure shows up in the enforcement actions, crowd control deployments, and traffic measures packed into the city's 2026 coastal plan.

The fact that Dutch airports are handling more passengers with fewer flights means airlines are filling fuller planes rather than adding new routes to northern destinations. For city planners, this means crowds pile up on peak days rather than spreading out across the season, which is exactly the problem The Hague's Coast Action Plan is designed to tackle. The question worth watching is whether the coolcation trend settles into a pattern that northern cities can plan for, or whether it keeps growing as heat waves become more frequent and severe, pushing coastal cities into a constant state of peak-season emergency management.