Long haul arrivals in Europe rested on the shoulders of Asia & Oceania markets during fourth quarter of 2014. The new results from the Air Travellers’ Traffic Barometer* produced by European Cities Marketing and ForwardKeys highlight that 2014 international arrivals increased by 3.2% compared to 2013 driven by long-haul markets and more particularly Asia and Middle East.
During the fourth quarter of 2014, Asia & Pacific continued driving the growth in long-haul arrivals to Europe, compensating the severe decrease in Africa (-6.9%) caused partly by the Ebola outbreak.
Regaining its bigger market share of 67% during winter season, intra-European flow, however, suffered a modest decrease of -1%, mostly due to the collapse of Russia & Ukraine markets in November and December 2014.
Yearly performance showed overall constant growths in all source subcontinents (+3.2%), despite the slowing down in the last quarter.
Solid market shares were seen in solo and couple travellers, last-month bookers, as well as vacationers staying 6 to 13 nights, for the fourth quarter of 2014. However the fastest growths were seen in group traveller (+32.7%) as well as early booker segment (+11.8%).
Current forward bookings trends for international arrivals in Europe during the first quarter of 2015 show a depressing situation for intra-regional (-0.3%) and African (-2.5%) flows while Asia & Pacific and Middle East perform above the promising average long-haul growth with respectively +17.6% and +16.1% growth compared to the first quarter of 2014.
Top 5 destinations in terms of market share remain the same for both historical and expected arrivals, among which Paris, Istanbul, and Rome stand out in advanced bookings compared to previous year.
*This analyse is based on Air Reservation Data propriety of ForwardKeys® as of December 31, 2014.
Perimeter: Includes air reservations made by passengers arriving in Europe and staying at least one night in destination, therefore excluding: “Transits”, “Day trips”, “One-way trips” and “Returns”.
Arrival period: 1 Oct – 31 Dec 2014 vs. 1 Oct – 31 Dec 2013
Booking situation for next quarter: 1 Jan – 31 Mar 2015 vs. 1 Jan – 31 Mar 2014 according to bookings issued as of 31 Dec 2014 and as of 31 Dec 2013.
