Who Is Europe Banking on to Drive Winter Travel Growth?

The winter travel season is ushering in a wave of change in travel demand in Europe. After a prolonged hiatus due to the global pandemic, leisure travel from China is making a remarkable comeback. China, alongside Japan and India, is at the forefront of the resurgence in leisure tourism to Europe. Most of this demand is coming from non-family travelers, predominantly solo leisure travelers. RateGain’s World on Holiday Insights Center powered by Adara’s travel intent data provides insight into the trends driving winter leisure travel:

North Asia finally drives Leisure travel recovery for Europe this winter

Family traveler hotel bookings are declining this winter after a peak during the summer and shoulder season. However, non-family, primarily solo travelers from all regions except North America, are flocking to Europe. Asia leads this surge with a 31% year-on-year growth in hotel bookings. Significantly, Chinese travelers are returning, and Europe anticipates a 250% year-on-year growth in their visits this winter.

Y-O-Y Change in Hotel Bookings for Leisure Travel

Source: Adara, a RateGain Company

Solo Travel becomes mainstream as Asians head to Europe this winter

There is an increase in hotel bookings in European destinations from most countries in Asia. The world was keeping an eye on outbound leisure travel from China, and finally, it is back. Japan, Pakistan, and India, along with China are important source markets for leisure travel in Europe in the coming quarter.

Y-O-Y Change in Hotel Bookings by Non-family Leisure Travelers from Asia

Source: Adara, a RateGain Company

How can These Insights Help You?

Travel businesses can reap significant benefits from data on travel intent from the Asia Pacific region. Valuable insights into emerging trends, preferences, and popular destinations among Asian travelers can enable businesses to tailor their marketing strategies, services, and offerings to better cater to the needs and interests of the travel market. Understanding travel intent also allows European businesses to anticipate demand, optimize pricing strategies, and enhance overall customer experiences, ultimately fostering stronger connections with a diverse and growing customer base. This proactive approach can position European travel businesses to remain competitive and capitalize on the expanding global tourism market.

About World on Holiday

World on Holiday is an attempt to create a real-time travel-insights center to tell you simply one thing – what travelers are interested in. The insights sourced from hundreds of first-party data sources are based on actual consumer activity and are relevant for anyone who needs a quick way to understand the key macro-trends in any region.

For regular updates on who, why, and how the world is traveling, subscribe to the ‘World on Holiday’ Insights Center.

About RateGain

RateGain is a global provider of SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality that works with 2800+ customers—including the Top 23 of 30 Hotel Chains, the Top 25 of 30 Online Travel Agents, and all the top car rentals including 8 Global Fortune500 companies—and 700+ partners in 100+ countries helping them accelerate revenue generation through acquisition, retention, and wallet share expansion.