U.S. State Department Reissues Level 2 Warning for Sweden
by Daniel McCarthy
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday reissued its Level 2 travel advisory for Americans traveling to, or considering traveling to, Sweden.
The update is not a warning against travel to Sweden—only 20 countries are on the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list and Sweden is not one of them. Rather, it’s an advisory to “exercise increased caution” in Sweden because of terrorism.
“Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Sweden. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations,” the advisory reads.
The Level 2 designation is the same as other destinations such as Spain, the U.K., France, Belgium, Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, and the U.A.E.
Sweden has become one of the staples for a growing “coolcation” trend for travelers to Europe. Sweden, along with places like Norway and others in northern Europe, is seeing more tourists because of the excessive heat in more mainstream European destinations, particularly during the dog days of summer, which is typically the busiest time for European travel amongst North Americans.
Virtuoso has reported a 27% rise in bookings, compared to last summer, for Scandinavia and Sweden alone has seen an almost 50% bump. With global temperatures consistently reaching record highs, there’s even more growing momentum for the trend.
