‘We’ll just put on the yes hat’: Tourists try to stay positive in the face of Denmark’s wet weather

26.07.2024 - 22:51 / euronews.com

Over the past year, Denmark has experienced its wettest weather ever recorded, posing significant challenges for vacationers and businesses reliant on summer tourists.

According to Tine Aschlund Eriksen, the owner of HighPark Sønderjylland, the rain has a negative impact on visitor numbers: "It is clear that visitor numbers are better on a nice sunny day than on a rainy day. But those who are here, they actually take it in quite a good mood."

Visitors, including 10-year-old Frida Buttgereit, have had to adapt their plans. "I had just tried a cable car, and then I wanted to try it again, but then it started to rain," Frida says.

Karen Alexandersen, an IT manager, shares a similar experience. "We were supposed to go up into the treetops today, but we are just about to get it rebooked for Thursday," she explained. But her 11-year-old son, Viktor, says he was disappointed: “It was a bit annoying. I was looking forward to it.”

The medieval market also faced challenges, as stallholder Ole Sønderup describes. "If the weather is bad, well then nothing happens. Then people don’t want to come out."

At Gjerrild Nordstrand Camping, camp manager Jane Bertelsen recounts a particularly difficult day. "It was completely flooded yesterday. After all, we got 60 mm within an hour and a half," she says. "Of course we had to go out and help. We found shovels and had to dig trenches and some we had to move to other places. Of course, we found some dry places for the newly arrived campers."

Despite the setbacks, some campers remain optimistic. Gert Woldum remarks, "Cheers. You have to make the most of it, right?" Fellow camper Ole Ydemann agrees, saying, "Yes, we can’t do anything about it. So it’s just the best we can do. To have fun with it."

Stallholder Ulla Sterlø from the medieval market is also in high spirits, "We’ll just put on the yes hat and then we’ll take a holiday anyway and take it as it is."

At Krokodille Zoo, director Rene Hedegaard highlights the fluctuating visitor numbers based on weather conditions. "There is also no doubt that if you sit in the summer house and plan, and see that there is pure sun, then you go to the beach. And then there are some other days, and we can win on that," he says.

Educator Maria Bjerg shares her strategy for dealing with the weather: "We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and thought, 'When is the beach weather?' And actually, we were going to Jutland, but we thought 'It’s raining... Then it’s Crocodile Zoo'."

Ultimately, Hedegaard sums up the situation, noting, "It is the weather that determines whether we beat last year or whether we come a little behind."