Tourists and locals enjoy a warm spring day with high temperatures in El Postiguet Beach.
Marcos Del Mazo | Lightrocket | Getty Images
U.S. tourists appear to be cutting back on summer trips to Europe — but Chinese travelers are greater than making up for it, a study found.
Data from the European Travel Commission (ETC) published Tuesday showed that just 33% of U.S. survey respondents were planning to go to Europe this summer, some 7% below the degrees of last 12 months.
The decline appears to largely relate to funding, with 54% of those polled citing high travel costs as a barrier.
But political concerns, including those across the perception of the U.S. abroad, also seem like weighing on plans, the ETC said.
“Travel sentiment is strongest amongst Americans from the Northeast (43% vs. 33% in the entire sample), a region that typically leans Democratic and diverges politically from Trump,” the organization noted.
Popular European tourist destinations normally welcome tens of millions of tourists from the U.S. every year. U.S. tourists within the U.K. in 2023 for instance totaled a record 5.1 million, while U.S. visitors were among the many top five countries bringing essentially the most money into the French economy last 12 months.
The decline in interest in a European summer is not limited to U.S. travelers. Around 39% of total respondents to the ETC’s survey said they were planning such a vacation in 2025, in comparison with 41% in 2024. Sentiment around European travel has also pulled back amongst travelers from Brazil, Canada and Japan.
But interest in European summer trips shot up amongst Chinese travelers, with 72% of survey respondents from the country saying they were planning such a vacation — up 10% from the previous 12 months.
“The strong sentiment is supported by growing disposable incomes, favourable travel policies, and a consumer shift toward prioritising personal fulfilment and lifestyle experiences reminiscent of tourism,” the ETC said.
The National Bureau of Statistics of China earlier this 12 months said that the nationwide per capita disposable income grew by greater than 5% over the previous 12 months in the primary quarter of 2025. Domestically, concerns have nevertheless mounted over the resilience of the Chinese consumer: weak consumer demand drove prices lower recently, while retail sales growth slowed in April.
Europe has long been a key destination for Chinese tourists, with many seeking to buy luxury goods whilst away. This trend got here to a screeching halt in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, but might be picking back up now.
Over half of Chinese travelers now say that shopping is an element of their European travel plans, in keeping with the ETC data. Yet, the figures also suggest that travelers is perhaps shifting their spending patterns, with Chinese tourists now especially likelier to tighten the belt. Just 29% of them predict to spend greater than 200 euros ($229) a day, a 44% drop in comparison with last 12 months. As an alternative, the vast majority of Chinese visitors is now seeking to spend between 100 and 200 euros per day.
