In the spring of 2018, EU residents made almost 390 million tourist trips, representing 34% of the annual total. During those trips, they collected over 1,8 billion overnight stays and spent 170 billion euros. To estimate the potential loss that the tourism sector will experience due to these constraints, Eurostat has set aside baseline figures from the previous two years for the period March-June and July-August at EU level. Source: Eurostat Belgians preferred to travel abroad, where the vast majority of trips during the spring and peak summer seasons were outside the country of residence (79%). 390 million trips in the spring, 270 million trips during the peak summer season Challenging moments are ahead of the tourism sector, and as with everything, those involved in strategic and market development will recover faster. Spring and summer are the most popular seasons in the European tourism industry. In 2019, the number of overnight stays and non-residents in EU tourist accommodation facilities during the spring and peak of the summer season was almost one third (32%) of the annual total number of overnight stays. The tourism industry is currently the hardest hit by the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, and is among the first industries to stop and recover the longest. For the purpose of this analysis, the “summer peak” season does not cover June, but focuses on two months (July and August) that overlap with the main holiday season in most Member States. In the summer of 2018, EU residents made over 270 million trips, accounting for 24% of the annual total. Those trips amounted to over 1,9 billion overnight stays and almost 138 billion euros in tourist spending. During the summer, this also applied to Greeks, Romanians, Portuguese and Spaniards, who spent most of their tourist trips within their country of residence (95%, 91%, 90% and 89%). On the other hand, tourism is directly and deeply affected this time, and although it recovers quickly, this time we can only talk about the beginning of recovery when a cure is found. From that moment on, 3-5 years of recovery await us, so that global travel returns to the same numbers as before. Also, a factor that is extremely important is domestic consumption, ie domestic tourists, and not so much dependence on foreign tourists. For example, in Germany and Austria they have the habit, but also the financial power, to generate domestic travel throughout the year, so they will recover much sooner, while in Croatia, primarily due to the worse financial situation, we are extremely dependent on foreign tourists – which is the current situation further negative factor. More than two thirds (70%) of trips were in the country of residence, while 22% were trips to other EU countries and 8% to destinations outside the EU. A similar pattern was observed for year-round travel, including during the peak summer season.
At the other end of the scale, residents in Romania and Spain preferred to travel to their country of residence in the spring, making up 94% and 90% of domestic travel, respectively. There will be more weekend travel, and large malls will be avoided. Active holidays in rural and continental areas will be required. Awareness of organic and organic food will increase significantly, as will demand for it. Digitization will play a key role, as will mobile payments. Too much dependence on tourism will unfortunately cost Croatia dearly, but as every crisis offers an opportunity, this is certainly not the time to bow your head, but to roll up your sleeves and define a new tourism paradigm on a healthy and sustainable basis. Are any of our new tourist stories being considered? This, as well as the next few years, regional travel will be in focus The share of spring season member states in annual tourist accommodation is relatively similar, ranging from 24% in Croatia and 27% in Bulgaria to 35% in Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands. In the height of the summer season, this share ranged from 23% in Malta to 58% in Croatia. Preferred European destinations outside the EU were: Spain, Italy and to a lesser extent France and Germany, which together accounted for 49% of intra-EU travel during spring 2018 and 45% in summer. Spain and Italy are the main destinations for visitors within the EU The share of overnight stays in these accommodation facilities was particularly high in June for the spring season and amounted to 11% of the annual total, as well as in July (15%) and August (17%). A similar trend was observed for both residents and non-residents of the countries visited. Also, as measures are relaxed throughout Europe, so is the economy, and all countries will encourage and communicate domestic consumption, so that citizens can shop and travel locally. Logically, it is imperative to start the local economy as soon as possible. Optimistic estimates say that 25-30% of last year’s annual turnover is expected this year. Certainly how this extraordinary situation will leave various consequences on the behavior of tourists and how the tourism sector will change. One thing is for sure, more will travel within Europe, and car and train will be the dominant transports, while air traffic will fall significantly. As Eurostat’s analysis focused on “spring and summer tourism”, it should be noted that the most important for us are the seventh, eighth and ninth months, where 63 percent of total turnover is realized. From March to June, Austria dominated the top 5 most favorable destinations within the EU, and in July and August Croatia was among the most popular destinations for tourists from the EU.
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