Brits to swap Mediterranean breaks for trips to ‘boring’ country as it’s cooler

Holiday bosses reckon we’ll be swapping the Mediterranean heat for countries with cooler climates like boring Belgium for future summer breaks.

They say we’ll be spending our future trips drinking overly-strong beers, eating mussels with chips and taking a dip in the North Sea in the home of Hercule Poirot.

Tui boss Sebastian Ebel says the firm is expecting much more interest in cooler places as Mediterranean breaks become too hot to handle.

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He said: “There will be changes. The Canary Islands will benefit from a more moderate climate.

“We will focus on new destinations like the Nordics, Belgium and Holland.”

He says there would be “more opportunity for growth” in places like Belgium, more famed for Tintin, waffles and chocolate than sun, sea and sand.

And he reckons the peak holiday season will also start earlier and finish later with more people going away in the cooler months of spring and autumn.

Holiday companies are already extending their summer programmes and flights into the autumn.

Tui is planning to operate flights to Greece as late as mid-November with bookings for autumn “really strong”.

Ebel said: “I actually asked my colleagues, maybe we should open [routes to Greece] until the end of the year, until or after Christmas.”

His predictions come after swathes of southern Europe have endured three intense heatwaves this summer.

Temperatures hit 45C in parts of Greece, Italy, France and Spain last month, forcing tourists to shelter indoors and attractions to close.

Wildfires saw thousands of Brits evacuated from Greek island Rhodes in July with tourists in the Algarve, Portugal, given fire warnings this week.

Is Belgium REALLY that boring?

We asked Daily Star Travel Editor Nigel Thompson for his thoughts…

Apparently there are some crazy British people who think Brilliant Belgium is boring.

The home of the muscular martial arts movie legend that is Jean-Claude Van Damme is boring? Sacrilege!

Brilliant Belgium is a fantastic holiday destination with so much to see and do – and they have Chips With Mayo! The Food Of The Gods!

EU-tastic capital Brussels offers not one, but three, unmissable small statues of a boy, a girl and a dog all having a wee. What’s not to leak [strikethrough pse], sorry, like?

Plus there’s the very grand Grand-Place square and the funky 335ft shiny metal Atomium landmark, which looks like it escaped from a 1950s sci-fi movie and has disco escalators inside. Groovy!

Bruges is ludicrously pretty and has canals, waffles and lots of ice cream and chocolate shops, while Antwerp has heaps of swanky diamond shops and was the home of artist Peter Paul Rubens, poster boy of the Flemish Baroque style. Literally a Top Art Bloke.

Okay, so where are all the beaches in Brilliant Belgium, I hear you ask. Let me take you to gorgeous Blankenberge which boasts miles of sands kissing the balmy waters of the North Sea, a pier, a Sea Life centre, a casino, beach bars, a challenging crazy golf course and even a ‘snooker’ style golf course. Yes! Brilliant Belgium really is the dog’s billiards!

Sadly, there ARE some unfortunate downsides to Brilliant Belgium. The Flemish language sounds like someone gargling snot and Stella is truly horrible.

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