Europe loses hold on American tourists, woos Chinese, Indian travellers, survey shows

Feb 18 (Reuters) – 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.

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Additional reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing ​by Jan Harvey)