ETOA chief warns that overtourism is a real danger for European destinations

Europe will remain an attractive destination for overseas tourists in future but needs to tackle overcrowding at top attractions, Tom Jenkins, president of the European Tourism Association (ETOA), urged in an fvw interview.

Overseas visitors are visiting Europe in greater numbers than ever this year, with an 8% increase in international arrivals in the first eight months of this year, according to the European Travel Commission, which represents national tourist boards.

Forecasts from Tourism Economics for major source markets for the next five years are also very positive. The US market, which generated 26.8 million visitors to Europe in 2016, is expected to expand by 31%. Russia (14.6 million visitors last year) could grow by 71% and China (10.6 million travellers to Europe) by 50%.

The short-term outlook for 2018 is just as positive, Tom Jenkins, the president of the European Tourism Association (ETOA), which represents the private incoming tourism industry, told fvw in an interview.

“Our members have very good growth at present and are very optimistic for 2018. According to a survey from the start of November, they expect a 15% rise in guests in 2018,” he said. “Europe is a booming market.”

In terms of the two major source regions, Jenkins said that travel from North America to Europe has grown very well this year, while travel from Asia had proven resilient. He described the early estimates for bookings from the two regions next year as “very optimistic”.

Asked about the consequences of ‘overtourism’ in European cities such as Barcelona or Venice, Jenkins admitted: “Many of my members do indeed see so-called overtourism as a danger. Often it is a result of bad management of the cities. You can only solve the problem when all locally affected parties find rules for the high season.”

In response, apart from involving residents more, cities could set pricing incentives, he suggested. “A flight is cheaper in the low season. But the entry price for the Louvre costs the same throughout the whole year,” he pointed out.

Addressing changing travel patterns, Jenkins agreed that today’s younger Asian tourists in particular have “more individual travel behaviour” thanks to technology. But he remained optimistic about the future prospects for group tours.

“Group tours are much cheaper thanks to the purchasing advantages of tour operators, and the world’s travel flows are still price-driven,” he said. Overseas tourists can see much more in a shorter time in a group thanks to professional planning and tour guides, he underlined.

However, Jenkins agreed that group tours do need to be modernised for younger travellers. “There’s no question that we need new products for younger target groups alongside the classic tours that sell well, such as river cruises on the Rhine.”