Despite the ongoing pandemic, research by the European Travel Commission (ETC) shows that about 70 percent of Europeans plan to travel until January 2022, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports. Furthermore, the data shows that half of the respondents plan to visit another country while one in three plan to travel within their own country.
COVID-19 cases are still rampant, with the United Kingdom recently reporting 32,928 new daily cases and 137 deaths, but this isn’t stopping Europeans from traveling. In fact the plan on increasing even while Reuters recently presented data that “of every 100 infections last reported around the world, about 23 were reported from countries in Europe.”
Few European Union countries have issued mandates for being vaccinated, but the EU has 60% of its population vaccinated, according to Our World In Data. This, along with countries lessening their travel restrictions, has relaxed travelers’ fears.
Furthermore, one in two Europeans intend to book a trip as soon as they are vaccinated while a slim majority seem optimistic about the EU Digital COVID Certificate.
The survey also showed that travelers are trending towards outdoor locations while nearly two-thirds are opting to book trips earlier in the season. The top destinations for Europeans are Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Croatia, marking the highest level of domestic travel since last summer.
This provides a positive outlook for tourism and it is also important to note that the volume of travelers has increased by 31 percent and those hesitant to plan trips also dropped by 20 percent compared to the previous survey.
While Greece led the EU in the highest number of tourists this year, over six million, generating more than €12 billion in revenue, there is still some concern for travel among respondents. Three data points of concern were: 15 percent are anxious about changes in travel restrictions during their trip, 16 percent for rising COVID-19 cases within the destination and 18 percent concerned about quarantine measures.