Europe Reports Positive Long-Haul Trends

The European Travel Commission, the European Tourism Association (ETOA) and Eurail B.V. published the results of the Long-Haul Travel Barometer (LHTB) for September – December 2019. Findings indicate that Europe is gaining increased attention as a tourism destination from overseas markets for the rest of 2019.

The data collected highlights the continued popularity of European destinations among Brazilian, Chinese, Indian and Russian travellers.

Despite the US travel sentiment being lower than previous levels, a third of respondents still plan on visiting Europe during the analyzed period. The results also show that high travel costs and lack of time are likely to hamper the travel plans of Japanese tourists in the coming months.

While overseas travellers often associate Europe with its rich history, the variety of cultures, traditions and its beautiful natural scenery, it is the perception of safety of European countries that mostly impacts travellers’ choice of a place to visit.

According to the results, safety is the most important factor for the selection of a holiday destination (50%), followed by world-renowned sites (35%) and a convenient transportation network (35%) within the destination.

Interestingly, the perceived crowding is considered a key factor for only 16% of all respondents. The only market which considered this aspect as significantly more important was India. This result could be attributed to Indians’ main motivation to visit Europe in the next months, which is to enjoy natural sceneries instead of only visiting the busy spots and be disturbed by crowds.

Europe’s historical sites and monuments, museums and cultural events were considered the main reason to visit the region by respondents from Russia, Brazil, China, US and Japan who all ranked the importance of overcrowding low.

Go to https://etc-corporate.org/reports/long-haul-travel-barometer-3-2019/ for more.