Europe loses hold on American tourists, woos Chinese, India

Chinese and Indian tourists are set to make up ​for a potential slowdown in ⁠growth from U.S. travellers to Europe this year, according to a survey published on Wednesday by ​the European Travel Commission, ‌with international arrivals to the continent set to rise by 6.2%. This is the first sign of a slowdown in the ​post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong U.S. dollar and economic resilience in North America. An earlier study from industry group the European Travel Commission ‌showed that ‌Americans were less intent ​on travelling to Europe in 2026 than in 2025, a trend driven by worsening economic concerns and geopolitical instability. While Chinese arrivals to Europe are set to rise by 28% compared to 2025 and ​Indian arrivals to climb by 9%, traveller numbers from the Americas were seen growing by just 4.2%. According to data from aviation intelligence platform Cirium, bookings from Europe to ​the U.S. between October 7 and end January fell 14.2% year-on

-year, while bookings from the U.S. to Europe slid 7.3%. Despite a tempering of interest from core American travellers, Europe is still seeing a steady rise in both long-haul travellers and in spending, showing ‌that tourists who still want to come are more focused on high-value experiences that can keep the European travel market steady. "Europe continues to stand out as ⁠a reliable destination, well-positioned to ​respond to evolving demand for more flexible travel and experience-led journeys," said Miguel Sanz, head of the European Travel Commission, in a statement. Travel spending in Europe is set to ⁠have risen by ⁠9.7% in 2025, according to the ⁠survey. That is in line with reports from Europe's major carriers, including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, of a steady rise in bookings for their premium offerings, while economy cabin bookings for transatlantic ⁠travel have fallen. Air France-KLM reports its full-year results for 2025 on Thursday.