Despite high global inflation, Trip.com finds that long-haul travel sentiment from US travellers to Europe is improving - with the UK as a standout destination.
The platform’s flight booking data reveals a year-on-year increase of 145% for US travel to the UK in the first half of 2023.
It attributes this surge in air travel to the growing demand for transatlantic journeys and the increasing interest of American travellers in exploring European destinations.
Edinburgh, Manchester and London are the top three most popular UK destinations for US tourists.
In May 2023, London hotels saw their highest revenue per available room (RevPAR) since October 2022.
Data on travellers from the US to the whole of Europe is also encouraging, with flight bookings growing 101% over the same period. London, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Milan, Athens, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Dublin are the most popular flight arrival cities for US travellers to Europe.
Hotel bookings from the US to Europe have witnessed a 60% increase over the same period.
Trip.com recently revealed that bookings on its platform for summer 2023 have increased by 170% overall, compared to the same period in 2022.
The company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa general manager Andy Washington commented: "We are thrilled to witness a growth in flight and hotel bookings for Europe, indicating a solid rebound in transatlantic travel.”
GlobalData intelligence finds that the key types of tourism in the UK and Ireland market are sun and beach holidays, visiting friends or family, city breaks, cultural holidays, adventure/sport, gastronomical, multi-stop trips, eco holidays, religious tourism, wedding-related tourism and LGBTQIA+.
