The European Tourism Association (ETOA), along with travel experts ForwardKeys, just released their report on travel trends for 2024.
It’s good news! Demand for Summer holidays across Europe is bouncing back strongly, with bookings reaching pre-pandemic levels. There’s valuable insight into tourists’ changing travel preferences this year, too. Keep reading to learn about their findings and what this means for you.
London tops the list of European travel searches ahead of the Paris Olympics
Analysis of online flight searches for European travel from January to April 2024 puts London at the top of the list, with a 5% share of search traffic. This is up 1.9%, and can be attributed to the city’s easy transport links to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
With a 0.5% increase, Paris itself is proving similarly popular. However, its share of online searches is slightly lower because visitors to the Games will have planned direct travel further in advance. Istanbul, Rome, and Milan also gained relative popularity, with rises in search traffic of 0.4%, 0.7%, and 0.7%, respectively.
Tenerife and Izmir are enjoying the largest surge in interest among mid-tier destinations – up 0.41% and 0.25% respectively. The growing interest in Northern European cities like Reykjavik (up 0.21%) and Munich (up 0.15%) reflects the popularity of destinations with cooler summer temperatures among holidaymakers.
In Eastern Europe, Tirana continues to grow in popularity with a 0.07% increase in search traffic, building on its success in recent years. It’s joined by Yerevan (up 0.03%) and Tbilisi (up 0.09%)—both popular among European and Russian tourists because of their natural and cultural heritage and affordable prices.
Bucking the trend, Spanish, Greek, and Portuguese destinations like Athens, Lisbon, Madrid, and Palma de Mallorca have lost ground in recent months, after enjoying high demand in the post-COVID years. This reflects shifting preferences among European travellers.
Consumer preferences shift towards Europe’s natural and urban destinations
Analysis of forward ticketing data for travel to European city destinations in July and August 2024 offers further insight. It reveals a shift in consumer preferences towards natural and urban destinations (up 19% and 14% respectively), over traditional sun and beach destinations (up only 8%).
This is reflected at a sub-regional level. Year-on-year growth in international arrivals to Central/Eastern Europe (up 25%), Western Europe (up 15%), and Northern Europe (up 13%) outstrips that of Southern European destinations (up only 11%).
“It’s a huge relief to finally be able to move forward with new travel trends, free of the shadow of the pandemic. The return in demand for urban destinations is a most welcome development, and it’s encouraging to see our predictions of the halo effect of the Paris Olympics on London being borne out in the data.”
Rachel Read, Director of Insight at ETOA
Outbound travellers from Europe focus on Asian destinations
Outbound travel from Europe is also back on a growth trajectory. We’re seeing a year-on-year uptick in long-haul travel (up 7%) and intra-European travel (up 14%).
ForwardKeys ticket data for July and August 2024 shows more European travellers are choosing to venture farther afield, to explore different landscapes and cultures. Notably, Beijing, Osaka, Bangkok, Colombo, and Kuala Lumpur have seen 132%, 66%, 21%, 21%, and 14% increases respectively.
With improved connectivity, visa waivers for Europeans entering China, and the favourable Euro to Yen exchange rate, these destinations benefit travellers in many different ways. Moderate growth in demand for the US cities of Chicago (up 14%) and Miami (up 9%) is also notable.
Increased demand for Summer travel in Europe: what it means for tour operators and visitor attractions
Summer is peak season across Europe, and recent flight search data shows that cities such as London, Paris, Istanbul, and Rome are regaining popularity among travellers. For tour operators and visitor attractions in cities like these, the return to pre-COVID demand for summer travel in Europe means more potential customers and revenue.
Operators and attractions must look for ways to capitalise on the increasing traveller numbers! This can be done in two key ways; distribution and ticketing:
The pandemic years were an incredibly challenging time across the global travel and tourism industry. This recent data showing demand for European summer travel bouncing back is welcome news.
Operators hoping to make the most of the increased traveller numbers must embrace the latest technologies; to share their products with the wider world, manage bookings and ticketing, and ultimately boost revenue.
For more information on how Palisis can help you, read how City Sightseeing London took their hop-on-hop-off tours to the next level, with exceptional reliability and personalised support.