While the Council of Mallorca has announced that it does not intend to spend any more money of promoting the island as a sun and beach destination and protests continue about mass tourism, according to a recent study, the main attraction for Europeans going on holiday this year is sun and beach.
The latest report from the European Travel Commission (ETC), ‘Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel – Wave 19,’ reveals a notable surge in travel interest among Europeans for June-November 2024, marking a 6% increase compared to last year. This brings the proportion of respondents planning a trip to 75%. The rise is particularly driven by high wanderlust among Spanish, Italian and British travellers. In all three of these countries, eight out of ten survey respondents reported intention to travel during this period.
There remains a strong demand for Southern destinations, with most European travellers (45%) choosing warmer locations for their next vacations. Interest in Europe’s South is stable compared to 2023 but is down 10% from 2022. Meanwhile, Western (18%) and Northern (13%) destinations continue to see strong demand. Spain and Italy are the top choices, each preferred by 8% of respondents, followed by France at 7% and Greece at 6%.
This can be partly explained by travellers’ solid preference for sun and beach trips, with 19% choosing this as their preferred type of holiday for the next six months. Other travellers opted for culture and heritage holidays (17%), nature and outdoors trips (14%) and city breaks (13%).
The perception of a destination’s safety (16%) is the most important factor for travellers selecting a holiday spot, followed by pleasant weather (13), bargains (11%), friendly locals and stable temperatures (both 8%). The survey also delves deeper into the impact of climate events on traveller’s choices. 76% of respondents report adjusting their travel habits according to climate change.
17% said they will avoid destinations with extreme temperatures, a figure that rises to 32% for over 55-year-olds, indicating older travellers are the most concerned about coping with soaring temperatures. Overall, 16% of travellers prefer places with stable weather, 15% monitor weather forecasts, and 11% choose activities not dependent on the weather.