LONDON is losing lustre among Europe’s swelling ranks of longhaul tourists, but is still holding pole position in terms of absolute volume.
Research by ForwardKeys showed overall growth in longhaul travel to Europe jumped 3.9 per cent this year, boosted by the cheaper euro, while forward bookings for the May to August period are 3.7 per cent higher over the same time last year.
On the other hand, longhaul travel to London has slipped by 3.7 per cent and on-the-book travel for May to August is 1.8 per cent less year-on-year.
Driving this is a drop in interest from three of London’s major source markets namely, the US, China and Australia, each of which fell by four per cent.
Oliver Jager, co founder and CEO, of ForwardKeys, said: “These numbers must be a worry for London as it would expect to be the highlight of a longhaul trip to Europe and when Europe grows London should grow with it, not fall behind.”
However, London still receives the largest number of visitors with a 14 per cent market share of longhaul tourists.
Meanwhile, other European cities are basking in their present popularity. Amsterdam and Milan in particular have notched double-digit growth in year-to-date arrivals and forward bookings, while Munich is enjoying a 15.3 per cent rise in arrivals for 1Q and the attentions of Asian visitors from China, India, Japan and Taiwan.
Jager noted that Amsterdam is seeing “disproportionately good performance” in leisure categories including group bookings. Meanwhile, Milan is benefiting from improved air access and “the upcoming World Expo, which is drawing particularly strong interest from China, with bookings 50 per cent up on last year”.
Barcelona has also posted 12 per cent growth for 1Q, while Istanbul is up 10.1 per cent in forward bookings, in part due to easier visa procedures for Chinese and Taiwanese tourists.
Said Jager: “While international tourists are getting better value for their money in Europe this summer thanks to the decline of the euro, the strong demand from the Middle East (6.2 per cent market share; eight per cent growth) and Asian regions (20.8 per cent market share; 20.2 per cent growth) also reflects the growing affluence of those origin markets and an increasing thirst for travel.”
