European Tourism 2023 – Trends & Prospects (Q4/2023)

EUROPEAN TOURISM RECOVERY CONTINUED INTO THE SHOULDER MONTHS OF 2023, AS MORE COUNTRIES SEE TRAVELLERS RETURN AT PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS

Data from European destinations shows that travel demand remains strong. Approximately two out of three countries are now reporting either a full recovery or are within 10% of pre-pandemic levels of foreign tourist arrivals and/or overnights. Foreign arrivals currently sit just 1.6% below 2019 levels for Europe as a whole, and this recovery is expected to continue into 2024.

Inflationary pressures have been a main factor in subduing some travel demand. Prices for travel related products such as international flights, package holidays and hotels all remained more than 30% higher than before the pandemic. There seems to be an end in sight however, as pricing pressures eased in Q4/2023. Other constraints such as strikes and the war between Israel and Hamas, are expected to continue influencing travel flows from both intra-European and long-haul markets, particularly those that are more risk-averse.

Among the countries seeing the largest increases in international travel arrivals relative to 2019 are many Southern European destinations, including Portugal (+11%), Montenegro (+10%), Türkiye (+9%) and Malta (+8%). These are popular destinations for more price-conscious all-inclusive holiday trips and have benefitted from climate-friendly conditions continuing into the later months of 2023. On the other end, destinations bordering Russia continue to see the slowest recovery in foreign arrivals.