Could Europe even get busier this summer?

I bet you’re right. That seems to have been the trend, more and more people able and willing take overseas trips, with Europe a key destination. Unless forces cause the economies at peoples’ home countries to nosedive (which current situations may cause in several places), crowding may just get more and more prevalent.

Semi-unrelated note: ski areas in Colorado, which are prime tourism destinations during Spring Break (see, this is still semi-related!) are more crowded this year than ever before. Popular ski passes that are now available worldwide, not just locally, and several chairlifts at resorts being deliberately kept shut down despite the crowds, are making lift lines interminably long, parking lots completely full, and ski runs dangerously full of skiers and snowboarders. Ski areas aren’t expanding their skiable terrain much, either, so there’s not an expanding supply of space. Some of those careening down slopes would do themselves and everyone else on the slope a favor by taking a lesson, and not just trying to learn on their own. So not everybody’s going to Europe, at least not right now. I wonder, how are the ski areas in Canada doing as far as crowds?

I doubt it.

The only information I have found is that US and Asian tourism to Europe is projected to be lower because of world economic issues. That's why airline prices are down a bit.

@Cyn I really don't live in a prime skiing area so can't really comment on that, haha. There's about as much skiing where I live as there is in Ohio.

Well yea, Vale resorts and the like are terrible corporations that actively promote the garbage policies that destroy mountains as listed above.

Whistler, one of the greatest mountains in the world was sold to Vale and subsequently went through all the same BS in the sake of profits. Lines have never been longer, lift passes have never been more.

It is only the middle of March and the amount of tourists in Frankfurt is a lot higher than normal. Indian, Vietnamese, and Chinese big tours are the most often seen. Solo tourists are a lot of Indians, but also middle Eastern, Singapore, Brazil and various other countries in S. America. English speaking countries like Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK are all here too. What is different is the number of solo Chinese tourists. They never used to travel solo and now we are getting quite a few.
(yes, I have a tour company and can check my demographics so I know what countries have increased or decreased over last year and the year before)
We have always had a number of tourists from the various countries in Europe. It doesn't feel like that has increased really, but I can check later.

Most travelers prefer regions with low conflict potential for vacations. But the weather conditions must fit to travelers' needs. Europe's Mediterranean areas are well demanded and it will increase again when Russian and Chinese tourists will travel more again.

I am expecting that in 5-10 years we might also see more South to North vacations within Europe because the summer temps are getting too hot ("coolcation") and some places are simply overcrowded by tourists. Both problems are still growing.

Looking at Spain:
According to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), more than 85 million holidaymakers from abroad came to Spain in 2023 - more than ever before. Experts expected even more international guests for 2024+.

An important indicator of this is the growing number of flights from many countries. The number of seats offered on international flights to Spain was already around 11.3 million in May. According to the Spanish tourism institute Turespaña, this is an increase of around 13 percent compared to the same period last year.

It is striking that Spain is not only popular with the expected regular visitors from England (+8%) and Germany (+13.7%), but also increasingly with Americans. The number of flights has risen by 16 percent within a year. In summer there were again direct flights from New York to Palma. Numerous five-star hotels have opened in recent years.

And this is increasingly becoming a problem for the island, says geographer Celso Garcia from the University of the Balearic Islands. He is researching water use on Mallorca and has discovered that In some communities, tourism consumes up to 65 percent of the available water. The consumption depends on the hotel category. In a three- to four-star hotel, a guest statistically needs around 275 to 300 liters of water per day. In a five-star hotel with a large garden and spa, on the other hand, 600 to 800 liters. In some vacation homes, one person would even need more than 2,000 liters per day.

Based on the purchasing power and the amount of willing-to-pay non-European tourists versus locals the word overtourism already starts to be replaced by into predatory tourism. While mass tourism creates sometimes overtourism, masses of luxury tourism tends to create the other one.

Different status in Germany: over 80% of counted visitor overnight stays in Germany were made by Germans (2024).

One good news is that there is potential because nearly nobody knows Europe's largest lake which has more than half the size of Belgium and is more or less fully unexplored by western tourists because located in Russia. In 20-30 years with growing climate change this low awareness might be changed.

Could Europe even get busier this summer?

I would suggest if you wanted to avoid the crowds avoid the countries with the most RS forum posts and avoid the countries with the most Conde Nast articles on line.

If there is a 10% drop in Western Europeans going to the US, and all of that 10% decide to go within Europe that would be a million more tourists in Europe. But Europe has a staggering number of tourists 747 million inbound to Europe, not counting the locals on holiday so 1 million is a blip.

The projection for overall tourism in Europe isnt fantastic. https://etc-corporate.org/reports/long-haul-travel-barometer-1-2025/ has a link to an article which has a link to a detailed report if anyone is interested in that rabbit hole.

All this is mathematic nonsense. It always comes down to your choice of date and choice of location. Nothing else will begin to impact the trip more than that.

Ms. Jo. Interesting. I have some friends with tourist businesses here. Late February and early March were fantastic, then its like someone threw the brakes on. Will be interesting to see what happens.

The single most prominent tourst groups here are from Spain. You cant walk down the street without bumping into a Spanish tour group. If I sit and listen for a while I can tell if the group is from Latin America, so far havent heard one. The other very prevelent groups are German speaking and Asian. Lots and lots of Asians. I wonder if they are surprised when they get here and see how many Asians live here. Rarely see an American and English between tourists is not common. Nothing scientific to my "study" just out and around.

Before anyone worries about a few more European tourists making the beaches in Europe a bit busier, they might want to reconsider visiting the top ten or fifteen most visited cities in Europe (some are top 15 in the world). All probably in the top 10 or 15 visited by RS forum members. 1 Paris 2 London 3 Rome 4 Istanbul 5 Barcelona 6 Lisbon 7 Amsterdam 8 Milan 9 Vienna 10 Prague 11 Athens 12 Berlin 13 Venice 14 Madrid 15 Dublin

Crowded is crowded. Is there really a more crowded? If you stuff 10 people in a phone booth, does it matter if you stuff 4 more? A lot of Europe is already at the 10 people level anyway, so how could you tell the extras?

An upsurge in projected tourism this summer in Europe? Fantastic ! Can't wait until the summer rolls around now that spring is officially here.

I'll be one of these coming from California, swelling the numbers in France, first and foremost, and Germany with traveling possibilities also in Belgium, Poland and Finland.

To quote Carly Simon, These Are The Good Old Days.

Things will only get more crowded in the future. You can look back enviously on earlier times when you could wing it across Europe care-free and foot-loose, when there were no crowds (at least none like you typically experience today), when the very idea of limited, timed-entry tickets for major sites would have been preposterous, even laughable, when all you needed to do was walk up to the gate at (insert your preferred tourist attraction here), maybe buy a ticket, and walk right in.

But unless you have a time machine, there's no point in wishing things haven't changed.

Unless (or until...) there's a pandemic or a major war or a big economic disaster - all of which are not just a possibility but are probably inevitable (could be soon, could be eons, just like an earthquake), don't let Fear Of Crowding Out (FOCO?) keep you at home...places are only going to be more crowded if you wait 3, 5 or 10 years.

If you want to experience Europe's best places without crowds, you just need to go to other places in Europe that haven't gotten the pop culture exposure/instagram treatment. They exist, you just have to do some homework. (Or, start working on that time machine...).

The 'crowding' is a result of multiple factors.

The planet wide population keeps growing, but Paris still has only one Eiffel Tower; Rome hasn't expanded the Colosseum or built more; Venice ( the canal tourist area) hasn't expanded in hundreds of years.

I agree with Greg that some folks are likely to change their travel plans, but I does it really matter if you drown in 10 ft of water or 20ft. ( or 4 more bodies are crammed into the already full phone booth)?

Just don't loose track of the fact if you are traveling and there are 'too many' tourists, you are a part of that problem.

The number of tourists is controlled/restricted by how much lodging is available. The locals determine how many tourists they will have.

As Rick says, "Keep on traveling", because it is like musical chairs. The problem occurs only when you stop moving.

In the western hemisphere there will likely be an uptick as well to anywhere but the US. The CEO of WestJet said in an interview last week that since the start of the tariff war, bookings to the US are down 25%, but bookings to Europe are as forecasted and Mexico and the Caribbean are up. We cancelled a trip to Denver for August and looking for a replacement.

The CEO of WestJet said in an interview last week that .... said
bookings to Europe are as forecasted ....

As forecasted, before or after the industry cut prices?

(Or, start working on that time machine...)

There isactually a veritable time machine if you will, a calendar, and by going in a less-busy time of year, the crowds are fewer. The off-season will carry by location, and some places are busier year-round than offers, but if people are cc able to

Mr. E, Canadian airlines actually aren’t known for cutting prices: smaller population versus large country means domestic flights are high and international ones don’t typically offer many deals.

If there is a 10% drop in Western Europeans going to the US, and all of that 10% decide to go within Europe that would be a million more tourists in Europe.

In the western hemisphere there will likely be an uptick as well to anywhere but the US.

I keep reading posts that travel to the US will be down, but it seems the NTTO disagrees with opinions here.

The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) today released the official forecast of international visitation to the United States.

NTTO forecasts the total volume of international visitors to the United States will increase to 77.1 million in 2025, up 4.7 million, or 6.5%, from 72.4 million visitors in 2024. The forecast also estimates international visitor arrivals will reach 85 million in 2026, surpassing pre-pandemic 2019 visitation of 79.4 million and will reach 96.7 million in 2029.

https://www.trade.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025-Forecast-Tables.pdf

Claire, I didn't understand that the quote was only about Canadian flights. Okay.

Could Europe even get busier this summer?

Still very doubtful

Threadwear this sort of thing always interests me, dont know why. Really has no impact on travel or anything else in life. But I still enjoy it.

First, the headline included "issued today" but the thing was on the internet and undated, so I was suspicious that maybe it was a few months old. Had to do a little digging; heck the report was issued this month. Will be interesting to see how it stands up to the actuals for the year. One note of interest is that we are still not at pre-pandemic levels and the report says that won’t happen until 2026 ..... so we are behind Europe (as a whole which is right at 2019 levels) in that regard, but probably not much different than some individual countries in Europe.

Of course the topic here is Europe getting busier because the world goes to Europe instead of the US. As I pointed out above, if the supposed 10% of trans-oceanic US tourists don’t come, AND, if all 10% go to Europe (not Asia, Oceania, South America, Africa, the Middle East ... but ALL go to Europe) instead it would still be an insignificant blip on the number of tourists in Europe.

And on that Topic, here is a February report. This one I think is fascinating: https://etc-corporate.org/uploads/2025/01/ETC_Long-Haul_Travel_Barometer_1_2025.pdf It projects US travel to Europe will be down 8% this year and I guess that explains the airline ticket prices going down. But 8% fewer US tourists only translate into something less than 1% fewer tourists in Europe. It also projects that all long-haul tourism to Europe could be down 5% from 2024. But long haul tourism does not make up the majority of tourism in Europe so it will be interesting if the difference is noticeable.

I said this sort of thing was fascinating to me, but not really meaningful in holiday decision making. Choosing a week day vs a weekend in Paris will have greater impact as would a decision of 30 minutes when visiting the Eiffel Tower.

Threadwear this sort of thing always interests me, dont know why. Really has no impact on travel or anything else in life. But I still enjoy it.

I agree, I do too.

Now that many Canadians are looking elsewhere than the immediate south to take their vacations and many Europeans may decide not to cross the Atlantic and stay closer to home?

I just find it fascinating that there is this underlying belief by some that anything other than economics influences travel on a large scale. Obviously a pandemic, war and terrorism affect certain places, but I am not sure what else makes a difference on a larger scale.

If I lived in Canada I would think twice about visiting the US, especially for the winter as an extended stay because the exchange rate makes travel here quite expensive. However, if I lived in Europe I would come to the US because right now it is a better exchange rate.

I believe travel is always an economic decision and time availability as well. I don't believe it has anything to do with the political environment.

The perfect example is travel to Russia. Interestingly, before the war in Ukraine, travel to Russia was popular among US travelers (Even RS had a tour and a guide book if I am not mistaken). Russia had in power then the same government it has today and for the past 25 years. It seems travel was acceptable to Russia with Putin as President before the war.

The misinformation about why people are not traveling to the US has these undertones aimed at the political environment in the US today, but it is really all economics.

However, as you say, Mr. E. it doesn't affect you or any other individual unless you let it. At least 99% of US tourists probably could not tell you who the president of any country in Europe is let alone whether the government leans conservative or liberal. Most of the 1% who can, are probably on this forum because members here live and breathe travel much more intently than your average tourist who travels.

No other tour company to my knowledge offers the personal opinion of its owner/CEO or writers like the Rick Steves company, who is not shy about sharing his political beliefs publicly that many here agree. So far, his political opinions doesn't seem to bother his customers as it appears business is good. This is another indication people just want to travel to get away from everyday media bombardment and just enjoy travel for all the reasons an individual travels.

Mr. E, the quote was about and from Westjet, a Canadian airline. I was also responding re: the broad generalization ‘industry cut prices’ that it did not pertain to Canadian airlines. That’s the problem with broad statements, there are often exceptions.

Canadians are indeed making travel decisions to the U.S. NOT because of the exchange rate in many instances but for political reasons. Our exchange rate hasn’t been great for 3/4 of my travelling adult life of 45+ years. We all still travelled to the US but shopped less. Our exchange rate with the pound and euro has also worsened in recent weeks but many of us are still travelling there.

‘Forecasts’ have their limitations particularly when there are fast moving global or large regional challenges occurring. I have an endless supply of anecdotal examples of Canadians, Europeans and others beginning to rethink their travel plans to the US. Plus there are many reliable media sources confirming this trend. Many had non refundable bookings in March so those were not easily cancelled. However, new bookings from Canadians are down for US destinations and growing.

Politics can indeed be a factor in travel decision making.

Threadwear

No other tour company to my knowledge offers the personal opinion of
its owner/CEO or writers like the Rick Steves company, who is not shy
about sharing his political beliefs publicly that many here agree. So
far, his political opinions doesn't seem to bother his customers as it
appears business is good. This is another indication people just want
to travel to get away from everyday media bombardment and just enjoy
travel for all the reasons an individual travels.

I think those that might disagree with Rick Steves are generally tolerant to opposing opinions and understand the bus will stop in Vienna no matter what he thinks of ____________ what ever _______________.

But the US enconomy, China and many European Economies are either in the tank or heading that way. So there are going to be some bargain tickets to Europe. I suspect some places like Barcelona and Lisbon may not see the cuts but many will. I never understood how airlines mangage to stay in business. What a tough business to be in.

The misinformation about why people are not traveling to the US has
these undertones aimed at the political environment in the US today,
but it is really all economics.

If you lived in Canada you'd understand it isn't misinformation, it is downright anger. We've cancelled a trip to Denver this summer not because of economics but because of disgust. Many of my friends have changed plans as well. American products are being boycotted, American liquor had been pulled from shelves in many stores across the country, the national anthem booed. This is not economics, if it was, Canadians wouldn't travel anywhere; as I write this the exchange rate for Canadian to American dollar is 1.45, bad, but it's been worse, the Euro is 1.63, the Pound us 1.88, yet travel to the UK and EU countries is as forecasted by the Canadian Airlines, and not because we're experiencing the same discounts in airfares that are being written about on this Forum. The only heavily discounted airfares were seeing right now is to the US, and it's not working people still aren't going.

I repeat, this is anger, not economics.

Yes, and i don't blame Canadians for being unhappy. The topic of a Canadian visiting the US comes up here twice a year. If every Canadian that stayed out of the US for political reasons went to Europe instead, it wouldn't be noticeable in Europe. But I suspect very few Canadians will swap Europe for the US. It's like swapping a dollar for a quarter.

Politics can indeed be a factor in travel decision making.

That's a shame. I agree it is a personal decision to not travel because of politics. I admire those who take a stand. Might not be my cup of tea, but to each his own. Unfortunately, the travel boycott by some will not change anything in reality. Boycotts sometimes work, "Bud Light" comes to mind. Generally, boycotts never work in the long run. When gas prices shot up and people screamed about the price of gas and the environment, SUV sales went through the roof. Go figure. Today, nine dollars for eggs? Well, I needed eggs, so I had to pay the stinking nine bucks and I still speak to people who supported the prior administration. who drove up prices. I have not boycotted them because it wasn't their fault.

Same with the people who make a living on tourists. They suffer, but have no power in controlling any political environment, except by voting. If you pay some attention to the US electorate, we keep voting the same people in term after term. Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome." Maybe one day we will listen to Albert.

Threadwear, i travel or dont travel for politics. This year I avoided one country for political reasons and I went to another country for political reasons. Well, that and friends. I guess that makes me Canadian? I should grab my toque and head north. No, G-d bless them for doing what they think best, wont accomplish anything, wont change the cost of a flight to Europe, wont make Europe busier, but sometimes its the stand that counts.

The insanity quote is often mistakenly attributed to Einstein.

"I should grab my toque and head north." - Make sure you scrub your phone clean, Mr É. You'll be in hot water if anything is found on your phone criticising poutine or complaining about the tree damage caused by beavers.

Gundersen, now with more information becoming available it appears that your statement for the need to scrub my phone for the reasons you state is a good example of "illusory truth effect".

The insanity quote is often mistakenly attributed to Einstein.

LOL Well, who ever said it, I still like the quote. I think it could have been Thomas Edison as well.

Mr. E.....In hindsight, I have reexamined my perspective and changed my mind. Why can't travel be based on political reasons? We make choices all the time for personal reasons, opinions and biases like, cultures, religion, people, food, costs, language, history, weather, visitor fees, etc.

I still believe in the grand scheme it makes no difference because of these individual choices, but I am a big believer in freedom of choice. Again, to each his/her own. If choices or boycotts makes someone happy, I should not have commented. I stand corrected to all.

Threadware, I agree with you.

$9 for eggs?!?!. What kind of chickens do you have down there?