Greece, Croatia, Portugal and Italy are the most popular European destinations for summer holidays this year, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute’s Travel Trends report for 2024.
With a mission to provide valuable insights and comprehensive data to customers and consumers in the tourism industry in over 74 markets worldwide, Masterard has announced the results of the Mastercard Economics Institute’s Travel Trends report, which were derived through analysis based on aggregated and anonymised transactional data, including Mastercard Spending Pulse and third-party data sources.
Holidays off season
Among the key findings of this year’s report is a shift in trends from the peak summer months to months of lower demand.
Specifically, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute report, the extended season is primarily attributed to climate and social factors associated with two major demographic shifts: more retirees without work obligations and more households with children free from school schedules.
More heat longer summer holidays
A new trend is being adopted by tourists in Europe, who have added an average of two extra days to their summer holidays. This is double the global average of one extra day per trip. This trend appears to be driven by affordable prices and warmer climates. In particular, as the report finds, for every additional 6 degrees Celsius of temperature at the final destination, the estimated increase in length of stay is 1 additional day.
According to Natalia Lechmanova, Mastercard Economics Institute’s Chief Economist for Europe, “The share of overnight stays in the European Union during the mid-season (May-June and September-October) has increased by 1.8 percentage points over the last decade. This shift makes it possible for European travel to continue to grow as the summer peak meets capacity constraints.”
Tourism is the heavy industry
The report also notes that Europe’s tourism industry remains one of the most resilient sectors of the economy, with demand for travel remaining strong despite inflation and higher interest rates following the pandemic.
The American tourists funs of Europe
The number of overnight stays in Europe totalled 2.91 billion in 2023, up from 2.88 billion in 2019. The percentage of US tourists visiting Europe has also seen an increase: the US share of arrivals in Spain increased from 4% in 2019 to 5% in 2023, in Portugal from 6% to 9%, in the UK from 13% to 16%.
EUROs 2024 made Munich a summer holiday destination
According to the report and in terms of popular destinations in Europe, Munich is ranked as the top popular destination for this summer (June-August 2024), as the city is set to host a major sporting event in June. It is followed by Tirana (Albania), Nice (France), Corfu (Greece) and Istanbul (Turkey).
They choose according to their wallet
The highest growth in air traffic this year, according to the report, is in the cheapest destinations. In particular, Albania, Croatia and Turkey recorded some of the highest increases in air traffic. Tourism in Albania is growing particularly strongly, with the number of air routes doubling from 2019 and tourist arrivals increasing from 12 million in 2019 to 17 million in 2023.
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