New motivations for travel in Europe: trending destinations in 2024

Thursday, Dec 28, 2023 0

Experiential travel as a motive for a holiday has increased by 8 percentage points globally since 2019, with motivations to visit Europe following a similar pattern.
Northern European countries are better positioned to capitalize on these new demand trends.

Mabrian, a leading travel intelligence company, has presented its latest analysis on the evolution of travel motivations for 2024, with a specific focus on the changing trends for visiting Europe and the destinations projecting the best prospects for the upcoming year. The study, conducted through advanced methodologies, including sentiment analysis of travelers through active listening on social media and transactional data on future air connectivity, offers insights into the evolving trends in tourist interests in Europe and the well-positioned destinations.

Mabrian’s analysis identifies a global increase in experiential travel, particularly reflected in Europe, specifically in active and natural tourism. Northern European countries lead this shift and position themselves as those best poised to capitalize on these new demand trends. Italy, in turn, tops the list of potential trending destinations for 2024, followed by France and Germany. The Piedmont region in Italy, New Aquitaine in France, and the East of England stand out as the top three destinations, emphasizing interest in a blend of cultural, natural, and gastronomic attractions with robust air connectivity.

Key conclusions for 2024

Some of the key conclusions from Mabrian’s analysis focus on the global increase in experiential travel in European destinations, providing a new landscape for travel:

Towards experiential travel: Mabrian’s analysis indicates a global trend towards more experiential and less conventional travel motivations, with an 8% increase in experiential travel since 2019. Experiential tourism encompasses activities such as active, natural, gastronomic, and wellness experiences, while conventional tourism includes culture, sun and beach, family activities, nightlife, and shopping.
New european trends reflecting global change: Europe has experienced an equivalent 8% growth in experiential activities from 2019 to 2023, reducing the prominence of conventional motivations. Active and nature tourism emerge as the fastest-growing, gaining 5 and 3 percentage points, respectively.
Countries best positioned for experiential tourism: Countries in Northern Europe, including Iceland, Norway, Finland, Slovenia, and Switzerland, are better positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for experiential activities, with a share of over 60% in visitor interest.
Potential trending destinations for 2024: Mabrian identifies Italy as the leading country with the most potential destinations (four), followed by France and Germany with two each. The top 10 trending regions for 2024 also include the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Top 3 trending destinations:

Piedmont Region, Italy: Notable for destinations like Turin, Stresa, and Alba, Piedmont stands out with a balance of cultural and natural offerings. Gastronomic experiences feature prominently among experiential motivations, coupled with positive trends in flight accessibility.
New Aquitaine, France: Featuring destinations such as Bordeaux, Biarritz, and Limoges, this region stands out for its oenological and gastronomic products alongside active tourism. The region enjoys good and stable air connectivity.
East of England, United Kingdom: Including Cambridge, Essex, and Norfolk, this region achieves a balance between cultural and natural offerings, positioning it as a growing destination. Its solid and stable connectivity further supports its appeal.
To complete the top 10 trending destinations, notable mentions include: Occitania (France), Campania (Italy), North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Lombardy (Italy), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), the province of Hamburg (Germany), and the province of Lisbon (Portugal).

For this study, over 380 million tourist mentions online from the period between January and October of this year have been analyzed and compared with the four previous years. This technique examines spontaneous conversations related to travel on social media (Big Data) through Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing, interpreting what motivates travelers to visit a place. Additionally, to identify destinations that will potentially be trending in the coming months, transactional data on future air connectivity has been utilized.

In conclusion, Mabrian’s 2024 trend analysis reveals a dynamic shift towards experiential travel globally and specifically in Europe, highlighting Italy, France, and Germany as key players in the upcoming travel trends in 2024.

Carlos Cendra, CMO of Mabrian, comments, “While it is challenging to generalize trends today, given the disparity of segments and interests, it is crucial to identify the global and structural shift in travel motivations, especially among the new generations. Each destination possesses unique characteristics and a distinct tourism offering, but all must pay attention to the evolution of traveler motivations and strive to adapt their offerings as agilely as possible, given the competition is global and increasing.”