European tourists favour private rental accommodation abroad indicates holiday habits study

A publication released in July by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities deals with the travel behaviour of European tourists. It examines whether tourists prefer to stay in their own country or go abroad, how they reach their holiday destinations, what kind of accommodation they prefer and how they organise their holidays. The study makes for interesting reading from an overseas property perspective.

Holiday Habits Summary:
- The majority of EU tourists favour private accommodation.
- In 2004, European tourists made on average at least two holiday trips
of 4 nights or more.
- At EU level, domestic trips exceed trips abroad.
- EU tourists prefer to go on holiday between July and September.
- Shorter trips are preferred to longer trips in many EU Member States.
- Private cars are the main means of transport for EU tourists.
- European tourists prefer to organise their trips independently.

EU average – two trips per year per tourist

In 2004, about 197 million EU citizens made about 408 million trips, of which tourists from EU-15 Member States accounted for more than 90%. This average of 2.1 trips per tourist appears to be due mainly to the high values for Member States with a large population such as France (2.7 trips) Germany (2.3 trips) and the United Kingdom (2.2 trips) mainly aboard, often in neighbouring European countries.

Nearly 60% of holiday trips of 4 nights of more were made within a country as opposed to 43% of outbound trips which were made in other Member States of the EU 25 whilst just one third of holiday trips were taken outside the EU25.

The majority of tourists spend their holidays in their own country
The study points to an overwhelming preference by Europeans for domestic holidays, but not in all Member States. More than 80% of domestic vacations were made by Greeks (90%), Spanish (88%), French (83%) and the Poles (82%). These statistic indicate a clear preference by Europeans in these Member States to holiday within their own country namely due to a good choice of tourism offerings, great weather and national economic loyalty.

On the other hand the highest percentage of recorded outbound trips were registered by members from the smaller northern European countries of Luxembourg (99%), Belgium (79%), Ireland and Slovenia (both 73%) and Denmark (69%) seeking warmer climes. Of those outbound trips, Tourists from 17 Member States preferred to spend their outbound holidays within the EU.

Southern Europeans prefer to stay in private accommodation
Southern European Member States in particular have highly developed summer holiday destinations with a long tradition. Moreover, their residents often own holiday dwellings and like to visit friends and family in their own country. Private accommodation was the most popular type for tourists from all Member States except the Netherlands (preferred to stay in other collective establishments), with percentages ranging from 39.9% for Danish tourists to 86.2% for Greek tourists. 58% of Europeans prefer to stay in homes of friends and family over rented accommodation, a positive sign that the market for private overseas accommodation is becoming increasingly popular. It offers holidaymakers more flexibility and a more relaxed environment to vacation like a home from home. Hotel accommodation came a close second with camping the least favourite form of holiday accommodation.

We thought we’d conduct a poll of our own, so take part below:

[poll=7]

The majority of tourists organise their trips independently
Direct reservation was the most popular method in 2004 with about 40% of all trips, followed by “no type of organisation” being organised independently. This is in part due to the high density of personal computers with an Internet connection in private households, which has increased substantially in recent years and allows tourists to obtain detailed information by themselves about trips and accommodation.

The car is the star
 58% 25%  8%

Unsurprisingly, despite the advent of low-cost airlines, the most popular mode of transport was private car used for 58% of trips, followed by air (25%), rail and coach (8% each). Over 70% of private car trips were made in Slovenia, France and Spain. Private cars are the most common means of transport in all Member States for holiday trips, except Ireland (66%) and the United Kingdom, (51%) and Denmark (39%), who predominately use air travel. Cheaper means of travel such as rail and coach prevailed in the less wealthy states of Lithuania and Poland, Latvia and Hungary.

Newer members attract more tourists

A growing penchant towards travel to newer member states is indicated by major increases in hotel nights, with Lithuania and Latvia recording the largest increases in summer season (June – September) hotel nights spent in 2005. When comparing the figures for the 2005 summer season with those for 2004, the total number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments increased in all EU25 Member
States where data is available pointing to an overall increase in travel within the European Union.

However contrary to wide reports that the established holiday markets of Italy, Spain and France facing increased competition from the likes of Bulgaria, Croatia etc in absolute terms, Italy (126 million), Spain (120 million), Germany and France (both 83 million) and the United Kingdom (80 million) registered the highest numbers of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments during the 2005 summer season. A positive sign that Spain remains a popular holiday choice, it received 38.5 million euros, the highest revenues from tourism in the EU25 in 2005.

So when it comes to planning your purchase of a property abroad consider the above facts and figures. Seek locations which are well networked by road and rail as well as an airport. If you have already bought abroad consider marketing your property to the domestic market by placing your property with a local agent who has countrywide contacts.

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