Europe loses hold on American tourists, woos Chinese, Indian travellers, survey shows
A guide talks to a group of tourists as they look at the landscape, on a hot summer day, in downtown Ronda, Spain, on Aug 15, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters
Chinese and Indian tourists are set to make up for a potential slowdown in growth from US travellers to Europe this year, according to a survey published on Wednesday (Feb 18) by the European Travel Commission, with international arrivals to the continent set to rise by 6.2 per cent.
This is the first sign of a slowdown in the post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong US dollar and economic resilience in North America.
An earlier study from industry group the European Travel Commission showed that Americans were less intent on travelling to Europe in 2026 than in 2025, a trend driven by worsening economic concerns and geopolitical instability.
While Chinese arrivals to Europe are set to rise by 28 per cent compared to 2025 and Indian arrivals to climb by 9 per cent, traveller numbers from the Americas were seen growing by just 4.2 per cent.
According to data from aviation intelligence platform Cirium, bookings from Europe to the US between Ocr 7 and end January fell 14.2 per cent year-on-year, while bookings from the US to Europe slid 7.3 per cent.
Despite a tempering of interest from core American travellers, Europe is still seeing a steady rise in both long-haul travellers and in spending, showing that tourists who still want to come are more focused on high-value experiences that can keep the European travel market steady.
"Europe continues to stand out as a reliable destination, well-positioned to respond to evolving demand for more flexible travel and experience-led journeys," said Miguel Sanz, head of the European Travel Commission, in a statement.
Travel spending in Europe is set to have risen by 9.7 per cent in 2025, according to the survey.
That is in line with reports from Europe's major carriers, including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, of a steady rise in bookings for their premium offerings, while economy cabin bookings for transatlantic travel have fallen.
Air France-KLM reports its full-year results for 2025 on Thursday.
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