Topic: Travel and tourism in Europe

Europe is the global leader in international tourism, accounting for roughly 60 percent of international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2022. The growth rate of inbound tourism in the region accelerated in the 2010s, with Europe reporting a peak of more than 740 million inbound visitors in 2019. While this figure declined sharply with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it bounced back in 2022 but remained below pre-pandemic levels, reaching under 600 million. That year, the total contribution of travel and tourism to Europe’s GDP amounted to approximately 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars, denoting a seven percent decline from 2019 due to the impact of the health crisis. Over the same period, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the European job market decreased by 8.5 percent, with nearly 35 million jobs directly and indirectly generated by these industries in 2022.

What are the most popular travel destinations in Europe?

When breaking down the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe by region, Southern/Mediterranean Europe emerged as the leading market for inbound tourism, both before and after the impact of COVID-19. Thus, it comes as no surprise that destinations bordering the Mediterranean Sea ranked as the countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals in Europe in 2022. That year, France topped the list with around 79 million arrivals, followed by Spain, Turkey, and Italy. On the other hand, Spain was the European country with the highest international tourism receipts in 2022, ahead of the United Kingdom, whereas France came third in this case.

Travel planning and behavior of European tourists

According to a May 2023 survey, nearly six in ten surveyed European travelers were planning a trip abroad within Europe over the following six months. Meanwhile, around a quarter of the sample favored domestic travel. Focusing on Europeans planning leisure trips, either domestically or within Europe, sun and beach holidays were the preferred type of vacation as of May 2023, followed by cultural trips and city breaks.

Overall, the share of European travelers expressing their intention to take a trip domestically or in Europe in the next six months declined from December 2022 to May 2023, with slightly less than 70 percent of respondents intending to likely or very likely plan an overnight trip as of the latter month. The decreased intention to travel might be due to a series of factors, such as the rise in the overall cost of trips due to the impact of inflation on travel and tourism, which ranked as the main concern of Europeans about traveling in Europe as of May 2023.