The latest results from the Air Travellers' Traffic Barometer produced by European Cities Marketing and ForwardKeys reveal that in Q1 2016, International trips were down by -0.7% due to Intra-European travels down by -2.8% (compared to Q1 2015). Conversely, long haul travels are up by +3.4%.
North America leads the long haul arrivals in Europe
North American market increased by +6.1% and is leading the way in Q1 2016. Asia & Oceania, up by +2%, slowed down, likely due to the fear of new attacks in Europe and the major attractiveness within their own region. Central & South America declined by -0.9% mainly due to geopolitical events and devalued currencies.
Dubrovnik and the Iberian Peninsula are the top growing destinations for long haul arrivals
Dubrovnik was the fastest growing destination city during Q1 2016 (+37.1%). The Iberian Peninsula remains the top growing region in Europe with four Spanish cities - Barcelona, Mallorca, Madrid and Valencia - in the top 10 fastest growing destination cities, as well as the Portuguese Madeira, the World Leading Island Destination in 2015.
Long haul trips to Europe during Q1 2016: long-term bookings increased steadily
Stays of 6 to 8 nights and 9 to 13 nights are growing by +5.9% and +6.4%, respectively. Early bookers (more than 4 months in advance) increased by +24.3% while bookings issued between 1 and 4 months declined. The huge increase in early bookers can be explained by the increase in long haul travellers.
Terrorism impacted the bookings for arrivals in Q2 2016 in Paris, Istanbul and London, giving a competitive advantage to other cities in Europe
The cities hit directly by terrorism are seeing decreases in bookings for arrivals in Q2 2016. Long haul travels to Paris decreased by -9% and -31.7% to Istanbul. Collateral damages are experienced by London, which declined by -2.4% while it has not been hit by terrorists attacks.
Nordic cities remain as top performers along with the Spanish cities. Tallinn is the fastest growing destination in bookings for arrivals in Q2 2016 (+38.2%) followed by Valencia (+32.3%), Helsinki (+28%), Barcelona (18.9%) and Mallorca (+16%).
