Sweden has found an innovative way to curb crowds in popular destinations and avoid rip-off price hikes during school holidays, as more and more Swedes choose to go on staycations
One European country has found a solution to holiday price hikes outside of school term times.
Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Malmö are the three big cities in Sweden, and all feature large populations of ski-mad Swedes. However, there aren’t that many mountain ranges within easy range of the big cities, meaning when the ski season comes around each winter, the demand for piste time has the potential to cause prices to shoot up.
Handily, Sweden has come up with an innovative solution for this — staggering school term dates. In the Nordic country, the education committee within each municipality decides the exact dates for the beginning and end of school terms.
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They have teamed up to make sure that winter half-terms in different regions take place on different dates. In Göthenburg, the February break took place in the week of Monday 10 to Friday 14, while it was a week later in Malmö. In Stockholm, it ran from Monday 24 to Friday 28.
By staggering the school dates, families travelling to different destinations across the country have less competition, ensuring no destination is overwhelmed with bookings and keeping prices steady. The different dates help to keep prices consistent across the month and spread out the amount of people travelling to different destinations.
The inflated price of holidays outside of school term-time has become an increasingly big issue in the UK in recent years. Relatively new powers given to councils allows them to fine parents who take their kids out of school without permission, meaning those who want to get away must pay the inflated holiday rates.
This can seem particularly unfair as typically wealthier private school families can get away for cheaper as their terms are much shorter.
The Labour government may be interested in the Swedish system, Education Secretary Bridget Phillips having just outlined plans to confront the travel industry about the high costs of school holidays.
“I do understand that families want the chance to have a holiday, the importance of that time together as a family, but I’m afraid that can’t be during term time.“ Asked if she had spoken to the travel industry yet, Ms Phillips told the Mirror: “It’s something I intend to discuss with the Transport Secretary.”
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According to Beyondo, Swedes have a strong holiday culture ingrained in their society. For example, they usually take four or five weeks off in the summer and head to their country houses. In 2020, the BBC reported that the Swedes have a long-running national obsession with staycations. In the country, they are known as ‘hemester’, which comes from the Swedish words for home, ‘hem’, and holiday, ‘semester’. Whilst the word can be used for staying put in your own home, Swedes often use it when referring to a holiday within their own country.
Around 20 per cent of the population own a summer cottage or cabin, and more than 50 per cent have access to one via family or friends, according to Statistics Sweden. And according to Statista, in 2022, around 13 million domestic trips taken for holiday, leisure, or recreational purposes.
