Vacationers and locals take pleasure in a heat spring day with excessive temperatures in El Postiguet Seashore.
Marcos Del Mazo | Lightrocket | Getty Photos
U.S. vacationers appear to be reducing again on summer time journeys to Europe — however Chinese language vacationers are greater than making up for it, a research discovered.
Knowledge from the European Journey Fee (ETC) revealed Tuesday confirmed that simply 33% of U.S. survey respondents have been planning to go to Europe this summer time, some 7% under the degrees of final yr.
The decline seems to largely relate to funding, with 54% of these polled citing excessive journey prices as a barrier.
However political considerations, together with these across the notion of the U.S. overseas, additionally seem like weighing on plans, the ETC mentioned.
“Journey sentiment is strongest amongst Individuals from the Northeast (43% vs. 33% within the complete pattern), a area that sometimes leans Democratic and diverges politically from Trump,” the group famous.
Widespread European vacationer locations often welcome thousands and thousands of tourists from the U.S. every year. U.S. vacationers within the U.Okay. in 2023 for instance totaled a file 5.1 million, whereas U.S. guests have been among the many prime 5 nations bringing essentially the most money into the French financial system final yr.
The decline in curiosity in a European summer time is not restricted to U.S. vacationers. Round 39% of complete respondents to the ETC’s survey mentioned they have been planning such a vacation in 2025, in comparison with 41% in 2024. Sentiment round European journey has additionally pulled again amongst vacationers from Brazil, Canada and Japan.
However curiosity in European summer time journeys shot up amongst Chinese language vacationers, with 72% of survey respondents from the nation saying they have been planning such a vacation — up 10% from the earlier yr.
“The sturdy sentiment is supported by rising disposable incomes, beneficial journey insurance policies, and a client shift towards prioritising private fulfilment and life-style experiences akin to tourism,” the ETC mentioned.
The Nationwide Bureau of Statistics of China earlier this yr mentioned that the nationwide per capita disposable revenue grew by greater than 5% over the earlier yr within the first quarter of 2025. Domestically, considerations have however mounted over the resilience of the Chinese language client: weak client demand drove costs decrease just lately, whereas retail gross sales development slowed in April.
Europe has lengthy been a key vacation spot for Chinese language vacationers, with many seeking to purchase luxurious items while away. This development got here to a screeching halt in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, however might be selecting again up now.
Over half of Chinese language vacationers now say that buying is a part of their European journey plans, in response to the ETC information. But, the figures additionally recommend that vacationers could be shifting their spending patterns, with Chinese language vacationers now particularly likelier to tighten the belt. Simply 29% of them expect to spend greater than 200 euros ($229) a day, a 44% drop in comparison with final yr. As an alternative, the vast majority of Chinese language guests is now seeking to spend between 100 and 200 euros per day.
