Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

The Most Popular European Cities in June 2020

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) published its new report developed together with ForwardKeys. This study analyzes current flight bookings and this way identifies the most popular cities in Europe in June 2020. Of course, this is not a precise calculation as tourists in the EU can use different means of transport, but flight bookings provide a quick insight into the current state of the market. WTTC revealed the Top 10 most popular destinations in Europe in June 2020 and compared them with the results of June 2019.

The market was in a drastically different state one year ago. As a typical holiday season month, June had high bookings. Hotels in London enjoyed heavy bookings as the capital of the UK was the most popular European destination. Paris and Rome hotels were also almost full – these two cities occupied the 2nd and 3rd ranks last year. In June 2020, the market is very different. London is now at the bottom of the list. The UK’s quarantine regulations make London a less popular choice. As many countries in Europe ease their travel restrictions, they get mote bookings, leaving London behind.

Meanwhile, Lisbon enjoys closer attention and tops the list of the most-booked cities in Europe. Good news for Lisbon hotels that suffered from the pandemic just like the hospitality sector in most destinations. In June 2019, Lisbon was only in ninth place. Portugal imposed strict hygiene rules and was one of the first countries that established new, upgraded safety protocols for its guests. Naturally, this fact appealed to tourists, many of which decided to pick Lisbon for their summer vacation.

When talking about recovery, we should still keep in mind that the improvements are yet modest compared to the results of the previous year. In May 2020, the decline in the issued airplane tickets was 94.5% year-on-year. In June 2020, the drop was 84.4% - better than in May but still incredibly low.

What other cities were tourists buying airplane tickets to in June 2020? Paris was the second most popular choice just like a year ago. Amsterdam hotels might get more visitors soon as the capital of the Netherlands is ranked 3rd (4th in June 2019). Athens and Rome occupy the 4th and 5th ranks respectively, followed by Madrid and Frankfurt (6th and 7th). Vienna and Barcelona were the 8th and 9th most booked destinations, and London ends the list.

03.07.2020

Previous article / Back to news index

Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports, and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.