More Europeans are planning to travel between the start of summer and November. This year, more people than before will do so in one big trip instead of several smaller ones, according to the latest report from the European Travel Commission (ETC).
There was a notable surge in travel interest among Europeans for June-November 2024, bringing the proportion of respondents planning a trip in these months to 75% – particularly driven by Spanish, Italian and British travellers.
"Post-Covid travel trends appear to be solidifying, providing some much welcome stability for the tourism industry. Several key European travel markets are showing strong enthusiasm for the upcoming months," said ETC President Miguel Sanz.
The study also found that 36% of Europeans plan to just take one trip in the next months, an increase of 6% from the previous year. Another 33% will take a second trip, while 24% plan to take three or more trips. For ETC, this suggests that financial pressures continue to impact travellers’ behaviour.
"Now is a good time for destinations to take stock of this ‘new normal,’ which includes concerns about high costs and unfavourable weather, as well as travel planning done predominantly on digital platforms," Sanz added.
Southern Europe remains top choice
There unsurprisingly remains a strong demand for Southern destinations, with most European travellers (45%) choosing warmer locations for their next vacations: Spain and Italy are the top choices, each preferred by 8% of respondents, followed by France at 7% and Greece at 6%.
Credit: Belga
This can be partly explained by travellers’ solid preference for sun and beach trips, with 19% choosing this as their preferred type of holiday for the next six months. Other travellers opted for culture and heritage holidays (17%), nature and outdoors trips (14%) and city breaks (13%).
The perception of a destination’s safety (16%) is the most important factor for travellers selecting a holiday spot, followed by pleasant weather (13), bargains (11%), friendly locals and stable temperatures (both 8%).
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Peak travel periods are still popular with European holidaymakers, as most travellers surveyed intend to take a trip in the summer months: 45% in June and July, and 39% opt for August and September.
Only 12% aim to travel in October and November, indicating that the heatwaves and overcrowding which impacted parts of Europe in the summer of 2023 are not heavily affecting this year’s plans.
The biggest concerns for travellers in the summer and autumn of 2024 included high trip costs (21%), personal finances (16%), and geopolitical issues (11% worry about the Russia-Ukraine war, and 10% about tensions in the Middle East). Extreme weather and transport disruptions are also significant concerns for 10% of Europeans eager to travel in the next months.
