As many as a third of worldwide travellers will spend more on travel this year than in 2015, a report published today reveals.
Among the big spenders, Europeans dominate the list, with Switzerland, the UK, Austria, Germany, and France all making the top 10.
UK consumers are second only behind Ireland in advance booking of their trips while the average planning lead time for European travellers as a whole is 73 days, according to the research by performance marketing firm Sojern.
The lead time for Irish traveller is 87 days and 86 days for those in the UK, the Europe travel trends report found.
European travel to major tourist destinations in Spain, Italy, the UK, Greece and Portugal remain strong. The US and Canada are both top destinations that have seen an incremental lift in 2016 – with strong economies and ties to Europe, they are growing in popularity.
However, the study said: “Given the economic and political unrest in Russia, Turkey, and Egypt, it’s no surprise to see declining interest for Europeans.
“In the meantime, warm-weather destinations like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Croatia, and New Zealand are picking up travellers.”
The vast majority (93%) of European travel occurs intra-regionally, but not all countries plan at the same pace or travel for the same amount of time.
“Political and economic factors, as well as changing tastes of Euopeans, all impact on how they plan their travel,” the report said.
“For example, even with the UK’s ‘Leave’ result on June 23 and the falling value of the pound, we have not seen a drastic change in UK outbound travel intent.
“However, emerging markets like Iceland and their creative stop-over campaigns, are showing an increase in European travellers.”