Half a million Danes to flee Christmas this year

For an increasing number of Danes, Christmas will be celebrated under a palm tree, not dancing around a Christmas tree

Nearly half a million Danes will go on holiday instead of celebrating Christmas with family and friends at home in Denmark this year, Kristeligt-Dagblad reports.

A poll of over 1,000 people purchasing Christmas holiday travel with Star Tours, a travel agency, found that 31 percent were doing so in order to escape celebrating Christmas entirely. The same poll conducted in 2009 found that 20 percent were travelling at Christmas for the same reason.

The firm’s statistics indicate a growing trend over the past seven years.

SEE RELATED: The cracker that no Christmas should go without

“We’re not talking about a sudden spike, but the demand is growing,” Stig Elling, Star Tours managing director, said.

In addition to people travelling to avoid Christmas entirely, Elling said many families travel at Christmas in order to be able to spend more time with each other during the holiday season.

Expedia, another travel agency, said its holiday reservations showed the same trend.

Allan Holmgreen, a family therapist, said the trend may have as much to do with the falling price of travel and a copy-cat effect. He added, however, that breaking with tradition was often beneficial for families. 




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