The number of US travellers flying to Europe has rocketed, with inbound transatlantic bookings up by almost 250 per cent in the first six months of this year. The spectacular increase, revealed by global travel service provider Trip.com, was even higher than expected, as US travellers appeared to take advantage of weaker European currencies compared to the strong dollar.
Trip.com recorded a massive 678 per cent surge in searches for US to UK flights, during the first half of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021. Meanwhile, other European countries saw a similar rise in US consumer interest, with a 614 per cent increase in flight searches from the US to Spain, 577 per cent rise to Italy and 491 per cent more to France.
Flight bookings from the US to European countries, such as the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany, soared by 246 per cent in the first half of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.
Rich Sun, Trip.com group general manager for the Americas, said: “Transatlantic travel is well and truly back and London is clearly the most popular destination once again for US travellers. Analysis of Trip.com’s latest data showed a significant surge in demand for travel, not only to the UK but also to other leading European capitals, with Paris and Madrid proving almost equally as popular.
“The massive 246 per cent rise in inbound transatlantic bookings from the US to Europe is evidence, if any were needed, that consumer confidence has once again returned to the market. We believe the increased value of the strong US dollar versus the weaker euro and fall in the value of Pound Sterling means that US travellers have so much more buying power in Europe, which has helped to mark the continent’s return once more as a major destination for the US market.”
Data showed that between January and July 2022, the most popular European country for US departing flights was the United Kingdom. Spain was the second most popular country for travellers to Europe from the US, followed in turn by France, Italy and Germany.
In terms of cities, analysis highlighted London and Paris were the top European destinations for Americans with the highly-competitive New York to London route remaining the most popular for US travellers, followed by Los Angeles to Paris, then Los Angeles to London.
During the past year, the US dollar has gained around 14 per cent in value against the euro and pound sterling with the dollar recently hitting parity with the euro for the first time in two decades. European trips are 10-15 per cent less expensive for Americans than at the same time last year.
