Europe Consumer Travel Report 2026

Summary

Europe’s leisure travel market remains resilient, but traveler behavior across the U.K., France and Germany is becoming more uneven as cost sensitivity rises and long-haul sentiment softens. Planning and booking continue to shift online, with OTAs strengthening their role in research and AI gaining traction as a tool for destination choice, trip planning and in-destination support.

This report is based on an online survey fielded in April 2026 among leisure travelers in the U.K., France and Germany who had taken at least one overnight trip in the past 12 months and played an active role in planning and booking it. It examines how travelers research, choose and book trips, including the roles of digital and offline resources, social media, AI, digital identity and geopolitics in shaping travel behavior and future intent.

Key questions answered include:

• What does the average traveler in the U.K., France and Germany look like? How many trips do they take per year, where do they go, for how long, with whom and how much do they spend?
• How are travel behaviors changing across these three markets, and what differences stand out by country?
• What resources do travelers use to research, plan and book their trips, and how are OTAs, general search, social media and AI influencing those decisions?
• What factors matter most when travelers choose destinations, accommodations, flights, packages and in-destination activities?
• How do booking behaviors differ across major trip components such as air, hotel, car rental and packaged travel?
• How do travelers view digital identity tools, and what benefits or barriers do they associate with their use in travel?
• How are geopolitical concerns affecting travel sentiment, especially for long-haul and U.S.-bound travel?
• What is the outlook for future leisure travel, and what changes, if any, do travelers expect to make to trip frequency, spending, trip length and travel class?