The longer the war in Ukraine lasts, the more Europe suffers from it. This is evidenced by the findings of the European Tourism Commission (ETC), whose experts believe that Russia’s aggression not only creates significant obstacles to the recovery of the continent’s tourism industry after the pandemic, but also encourages tourists to consider alternative destinations to other countries.
An analysis of the six most promising foreign tourist markets in Europe showed that this summer travelers from the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and Brazil will significantly reduce their presence in the region. The main reasons are danger, rising cost of living and the cost of European travel.
It is no secret that the European tourism market for many years has been focused on Russian tourists. However, this year, due to the war in Ukraine and the corresponding sanctions against the aggressor country, Europe will have to forget about wealthy tourists from Russia. In the near future, the majority of Russians surveyed (60%) do not plan to leave the CIS, and 20% have plans to travel, but not to Europe.
As for the Chinese tourism market, which was also quite capacious for the European continent, 49% of tourists there are not ready to go to Europe. 30% of the main reason was the new outbreaks of covid in the world. And another 19% of Chinese travelers are not ready to travel to the region due to Russian aggression.
Due to the war in Ukraine, the tourist connection between Europe and Japan significantly deteriorated, which became the main reason for the reluctance of the Japanese to go to the region. This is the reason given by 41% of respondents.
Americans and Canadians are also in no hurry to book flights to Europe. According to the survey, this trend is largely due to concerns about rising travel costs and the impact of inflation on personal finances.
The most promising for Europe in 2022 was the Brazilian market. Every second Brazilian is preparing to visit the continent in the next four months. 45% of them have already booked tickets.