Europeans may be concerned about costs and geopolitical instability; however, at the same time, they keep travel high on their priorities, which is why over 80% say they plan to travel more in the next six months, with more trips to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. In fact, even though fuel costs are driving up the cost of road or air travel, they say they will continue to choose their car or plane to travel to their destination as they did last year. And in the event there is a shortage of jet fuel due to the impact of the Middle East crisis (as the International Energy Agency has indicated as a possibility by June), they will seek alternatives, such as travel to closer destinations, indicative of high travel sentiment and intent.
The figures are derived from the survey that Mindhaus has been conducting at regular intervals throughout the year (March, May, September) consistently in recent years for the European Travel Commission (ETC), on the travel intentions of Europeans, highlighting key trends in the tourism market for the summer of 2026. The survey measures travel trends for the next six months and as the March 2026 findings show, 82% of Europeans – who are the key reservoir for inbound tourism to our country – intend to travel in the next six months, the highest in recent surveys for the first time above 80%. For reference, a year ago, in March 2025, the corresponding figure was 72%.
As mentioned yesterday in the context of the relevant seminar, more trips will be made in May, June, and July, which have rates of 18% to 20%, while for August and September the rates fall to 13% and 11%, without excluding trips with last-minute bookings.
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