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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Eurobarometer surveys

Since 1973, the European Commission has been monitoring the evolution of public opinion in the EU countries, thus helping the preparation of texts, decision-making and the evaluation of its work. Surveys and studies address major topics concerning European citizenship: tourism is one of them.

Preferences of Europeans towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (October 2021)

The survey, conducted in October 2021 across Europe, shows that EU citizens when selecting tourism destinations base their decision on three aspects: the cultural offer (44%), the natural environment (43%), but also on the price of the overall trip (43%). Unsurprisingly, almost a third (31%) prefer to use online platforms for professional accommodation services (hotels, B&Bs) and another 25% rely on online platforms combining different travel services. However, when making travel plans, Europeans rely on recommendations from friends, colleagues or relatives (56%) which makes this by far the most important source of information. A large majority of EU citizens (82%) are prepared to change some of their habits to support more sustainable tourism, for example, by consuming local products (55%), choosing ecological means of transport (36%) or by paying more to protect the natural environment (35%) or to benefit the local community (33%).

Read the full Eurobarometer report.

Preferences of Europeans towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (March 2016)

The survey looks at the travel patterns of European citizens in the 28 Member States of the European Union, and in Turkey, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro and Moldova. It was designed to explore a range of aspects regarding holidays in 2015 and 2016, in particular: respondents’ reasons for going on holiday in 2015; information sources and tools used to book holidays; respondents’ travel profiles, preferred destinations and holiday types; satisfaction with various aspects of holidays in 2015; plans for holidays in 2016, including the potential impact of the current economic situation on these plans.

Preferences of Europeans towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (March 2015)

This survey identifies trends in tourism – not only where people intend to go and how long they plan to stay, but also how do they find out about transport, accommodation and sites to see, and how they go about arranging their trips. This year's extra analysis report discovers shifts in trends by a longitudinal analysis since 2009 and looks at levels of satisfaction with respondents’ main holiday in 2014. The country factsheets can also be found under the "Studies & reports" section of the VTO.

Preferences of Europeans towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (February 2014)

This Eurobarometer survey on the preferences of Europeans towards tourism provides a detailed insight of Europeans' tourism preferences in 2013 - including favourite destinations, reasons for travelling and booking methods - and anticipates travelling trends for 2014. From the 2014 edition onwards the country factsheets can also be found under the "Studies & reports" section of the VTO.

Attitudes of Europeans Towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (March 2013) 

This Flash Eurobarometer survey also explores the holiday plans of european citizens, their favourite destinations, motivations for going on holiday, how holidays were arranged, holiday satisfaction and the plans for the future.

Attitudes of Europeans Towards Tourism - Flash Eurobarometer Report (March 2012) 

The objectives of this survey were to study respondents’ motivation for going on holiday in 2011, the way respondents prepare and organise their holiday, attitudes towards tourism, respondents’ travel profiles in 2011. Country factsheets are available from 2012 onwards..

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