Northeast and Southeast doing well so far in 2025, West Coast less so

As we enter 2025, post-COVID US inbound travel continues to grow overall, but some regions fare better than others.

In part because travel to Europe and the Caribbean has become significantly more expensive since the pandemic, inbound travel to the Northeast and Southeast US - e.g., NYC and Miami - is growing strongly in 2025 from source markets that include Canada, Europe and Latin America.

With the USD at 0.98 Euro today, the US is looking especially good to residents of the Eurozone.

And US inbound travel from India is growing strongly - potentially by double digits in 2025 - as household incomes in India have grown.

But recovery of demand for US travel from traditional Asian markets China and Japan continues to lag, to the detriment of San Francisco and other West Coast destinations. The yen recently dropped to a 34-year low against the USD. If that situation continues, Japanese tourists could in the long term abandon Hawaii and California for lower-priced Asia-Pacific destinations.

How will US inbound trend in 2025 - overall and by region? Stay tuned.

JetBlue to offer direct flights from Boston to Madrid and Edinburgh in summer 2025

JetBlue has announced the addition of 2 new seasonal direct flights to Europe from Boston Logan for summer 2025: Madrid and Edinburgh, to begin 22 May and run through 24 October. Both flights will leave Boston at around 1030 PM, with return flights landing afternoons.

In addition to year-round service from Boston to London Heathrow and Paris, in 2025 JetBlue will continue to offer other summer seasonal European destinations: Amsterdam, Dublin and London Gatwick.

Round-trip bookings for Madrid and Edinburgh are now available at an introductory rate of $499 for a limited time.

2024/2025 Fall-Winter European Travel Surging

According to the latest "Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel" report from the European Travel Commission, 73% of Europeans surveyed said they plan to travel in Europe between October 2024 and March 2025 - up 6% from this time in 2023.

Countries whose residents have the strongest travel intent for this period are:

1. UK 84%, +10% vs. 2023/2024
2. Germany 79%, +16%
3. France 78%, +15%

Travel intentions by age group:

• 25-34: 75%, +9% vs. 2023/2024
• 18-24: 64%, +8%
• 35-44: 78%, +7%
• 55+: 75%, +4%

Younger travelers expressed preference for city breaks and beach vacations, while older respondents said they're looking for culture, heritage or nature experiences, preferably at familiar destinations where little can go wrong.

Top destination countries cited across age groups were:

1. Spain 7%
2. France 7%
3. Italy 6%
4. Germany 5%
5. Austria 5%
6. Greece 5%

51% of respondents said they are looking at lesser-known locations within those countries, to avoid overcrowding or - particularly among respondents in Poland, Spain and the Netherlands - to explore remote, "new" areas.

In this most recent survey, 19% of respondents expressed concern about trip prices, vs. 22% a year ago.

Trip budgets anticipated are:

• 500-1000 euro (27%)
• 1500-2500 euro (26%)

Other concerns cited by respondents included:

• Their overall financial situation
• Ukraine war
• Middle East tensions
• Extreme weather events
• Strikes and staff shortages
• Overcrowding at destinations

Top drivers of destination choice cited were:

1. Safety 18%
2. Stable weather 12%
3. Bargain prices 12%
4. Friendly locals 10%

Record summer projected for Europe inbound tourism in 2024

Travel intelligence provider ForwardKeys projects that inbound tourism to European countries will surpass all previous records in summer 2024, with year-on-year growth of 12% driven primarily by intraregional travel.

Visitation from long-haul markets is up also, particularly for Asia-Pacific (+11%) and the USA (+21%).

Growth projections for regions within Europe are:

1. Central and Eastern Europe: +23%
2. Northern Europe: +12%
3. Southern Europe: +10%

Top-performing European cities by yoy growth in ticketed July-August arrivals are:

1. Munich +37%
2. Vienna +23%
3. Zurich +23%
4. Prague +22%
5. Budapest +21%
6. Edinburgh +19%
7. Barcelona +19%
8. Madrid +16%
9. Nice +16%
10. Venice +16%

Medium-length stays (4-14 nights) are dominating interregional arrivals (63%).

Arrivals to Europe from Asia Pacific are also up yoy for summer 2024: +64% from China and +53% from Japan

Major events driving demand up in summer 2024 include:

• UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament (Germany)
• Olympic Games (France)
• Taylor Swift's Eras Tour (Stockholm, Warsaw. London)

Venice initiates entry fee for day-trippers

The City of Venice has launched a pilot run of an entry fee for visitors to the city who don't stay overnight.

In 2024, the fee of 5 euro per person per day will be charged only on certain days in the city's high season of 25 April - 14 July. See the Venice website for specific dates, and for the opportunity to prepay online.

Note that for overnight visitors to avoid the fee they need to register for an exemption.