Europeans ‘more confident and relaxed’ about travel
Survey finds city breaks and last-minute trips on the rise
JimMin
Europeans are becoming ‘more confident and relaxed’ about travel, according to research by the European Travel Commission, the association of national tourism boards.
It found two thirds of those quizzed in its latest survey plan to travel in the next six months, “building on the confidence restored over the summer”.
The research was conducted among 5,769 consumers in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Poland and Austria.
More than half (55%) of short-term travellers prefer to visit another European country and air travel is on the rise, with more than 50% of respondents saying they feel comfortable taking a plane again.
Mediterranean destinations rank highest on travellers’ destination wish list, with Spain and Italy (both 9%), France (8%) and Greece (7%) as the top preferences.
Desire for city breaks (18%) has reached its highest rate so far this year, and trip planning is becoming more last-minute.
“Higher interest in city breaks and last-minute bookings is another indicator of the gradual return to normality and towards more spontaneous trips in the near future,” said the latest edition of the report, called Monitoring Sentiment for Domestic and Intra-European Travel.
