Summer travel intent
Travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance has released its annual review of summer travel intent, which shows that American travellers are still keen to visit London and Paris despite continued terrorist activity in Europe.
The company reviewed more than 10 million trips planned by customers during the summer season of 2015, 2016 and 2017 and found that this summer, London, UK will see a 36.55-per-cent increase in US travellers from 2016 and Paris, France will see an increase of 28.77 per cent from 2016. According to Allianz Global Assistance, this brings both countries closer to the numbers of American travellers who visited in summer 2015, prior to the November 2015 Paris attacks.
“Despite continued terrorist activity in Europe and corresponding US State Department travel warnings, Americans won’t be deterred in their desire to visit iconic European destinations like London and Paris,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA.
The top 10 destinations in Europe for 2017 summer travel, ranked by percentage of travellers, were found to be: London, UK (15.3 per cent); Paris, France (9.6 per cent); Rome, Italy (8.2 per cent); Athens, Greece (4.7 per cent); Barcelona, Spain (4.6 per cent); Dublin, Ireland (4.6 per cent); Amsterdam, Netherlands (4.5 per cent); Madrid, Spain (three per cent); Frankfurt, Germany (2.9 per cent); and Venice, Italy (2.6 per cent).