The European Travel Commission (ETC) conducted a survey with 7,100 long-distance travelers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. According to the survey results, which were exclusively presented to Bloomberg, cost-sensitive American travelers are abandoning European vacations, while Chinese tourists are filling the gap.

According to the results of the ETC survey, 72 percent of Chinese participants plan to travel to Europe this summer. This represents a 10 percent increase compared to 2024. These figures provide a sigh of relief for hoteliers, restaurateurs, and other business owners on the continent who are dependent on high-spending foreign tourists.

According to the UN Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists spent $251 billion abroad in 2024, exceeding pre-2020 levels. This makes China the largest market in terms of overall tourism spending, but until recently, most of this revenue was spent on travel within Asia.

The problem in the European tourism economy

The ETC's findings that Chinese tourists are not planning to spend as much as they used to is causing concern. This result is important given the previous tendency of Chinese tourists to engage in luxury shopping. Only 29 percent of those surveyed stated that they planned to spend more than 200 euros ($229) per day, a 44 percent decrease compared to last summer. The majority of Chinese travelers (54 percent) plan to limit their budget to between 100 and 200 euros per day.

Nevertheless, the ETC report stated that at least 53 percent of Chinese participants indicated that shopping would play at least some role in their travels. Those traveling for business have more generous budgets. 36 percent of this group plan to spend more than 200 euros per day. Overall, Chinese tourists are budgeting more tightly than tourists from other countries.

Only a third of American travelers who participated in the ETC's survey plan to travel to Europe this summer, which represents a 7 percent decrease compared to 2024. Brazil, Canada, and Japan, the other three markets examined in the ETC report, are also trending downward, albeit to a lesser extent.

Eduardo Santander, CEO of ETC, stated that there are reasons to be optimistic, adding, “Although the recovery in China is slower than other long-distance markets, momentum is clearly increasing. Re-establishing communication with these travelers remains a top priority for many European destinations.”