Far from the madding crowd: New post-Covid holiday criteria for Europeans
- After pleasant weather and attractive deals, the next most important criteria for choosing a destination is that it ‘is not crowded’
- Change linked to habits developed in three years of coronavirus when going off the beaten track was a priority, travel experts say
Europeans are gearing up for their beloved summer holiday season, and new data from the European Travel Commission shows that they’re prioritising a new trip-planning criterion as a result of the last three years: A lack of crowds.
After pleasant weather and attractive deals, the report finds, Europeans say the next most important criteria for choosing a destination on their continent is that it “is not crowded”. That’s a bump from fourth to third place since the commission’s survey introduced the question “What criteria will play the most important role in choosing your next destination?” in March 2022, after all pandemic entry restrictions were lifted in the European Union.
Battling it out for beach umbrellas on Pampelonne Beach in St Tropez or pushing past other holidaymakers on Place du Trocadéro in Paris during the busier summer months was too much after time away. Seclusion remains hot, even with social distancing in the rear-view mirror.
“I think it has to do with the habits we had in the three years of Covid to go off the beaten track and how comfortable and exciting that was to discover new places,” says Luís Araújo, president of the European Travel Commission. Having more breathing room was important to nearly a third of European travellers – whether considering outdoors trips or city breaks.
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One thing that’s gone back to pre-pandemic norms, however, is the desire for value.
More than two-thirds plan to escape in the spring and early summer, before the peak month of August, according to the ETC’s intra-European travel sentiment report, published on April 13. The survey data was collected in March 2023 with participants from 10 major European markets, including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain.
Despite some Europeans’ reputation for taking a break for the entire month of August, the data doesn’t typically bear it out – except in 2022, when revenge travel and pent-up demand saw Europeans taking time off throughout the summer, even during that peak month.
Now, in 2023, those numbers have declined by almost one-tenth, the ETC report shows, with more than two-thirds of the surveyed population getting ahead of the rush and taking a holiday as early as the spring and early summer. “We’re going back to the intra-European pattern that we used to have, which is travelling in the midseason and lower season,” says Araújo.
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As for travelling away from throngs of tourists, the ETC believes the trend will keep growing. The commission’s member countries have encouraged this shift by showcasing diverse regions and year-round activities, Araújo explains, and spreading tourists throughout their territories. Consider Denmark’s push for its Rold Forest and Baltic beaches or France’s Loire Valley modern luxury makeover.
Another change in the European summer planning checklist: 7 per cent of survey respondents say they’re taking extreme weather into consideration.
Of course, this comes on the heels of one of the warmest European winters on record. For the first time, climate change is having an effect on the decision-making process about travel, Araújo says.
Last year’s catastrophic heatwaves that began in mid-July also caused more Europeans to reconsider their itineraries, with more heading toward the continent’s northern coastlines and travelling in the months of April, May, September and October. Move over, August: Uncrowded, off-peak and cooler destinations appear to be features of the future European summer “it” list.
