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Trips to European Destinations Exceeded the Result of 2008

According to the travel data concerning visits to European destinations in the fourth quarter of 2011, the total amount of them exceeded the peak result of 2008. All countries show improvements – 22 out of 23 countries show the increase in the number of international visits during the previous year. In some countries, for example, in the UK, the growth is relatively small – just 3%, while Lithuania and Latvia feature the increases of over 20%. 24 European countries out of 26 also show better occupancy levels in 2011.

If we look at Europe in general, the number of international visits has increased by 6%. This fact has helped to improve occupancy by 3.2%. As we can see from the last digit, the domestic demand went down in 2011.

Despite such positive results, experts are not overly optimistic about the European destinations’ results in 2012. The growth may be slowed down by several reasons including problems of the Eurozone and, in particular, of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland. Europe is a traditional destination for business travellers and financial problems may lead to significant decreases in the sector. Moreover, if Eurozone breaks up, the decline of GDP of the exiting countries may reach 10%, causing the new splash of global crisis that may touch even the US.

06.02.2012

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