Europe's Tourism Demand Holds Steady But Ukraine War Anxieties Loom

The direct and indirect impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war on European tourism are becoming clearer, while also difficult to predict far into the future — and it’s a mixed bag of both good and bad news for an industry that accounts for approximately 10 percent of gross domestic product in Europe and provides 33 million direct and indirect jobs.

European tourism’s steady recovery on a global scale has slowed, but it hasn’t completely stopped it as when the pandemic first hit. Pent-up demand for European travel is helping to mitigate a harsher blow from the Ukraine war, as consumers are adapting to uncertainty and still eager for trips to western Europe. Intra-regional travel demand is holding steady, boosting the sector’s resilience ahead of Easter and summer, and the bounce back of transatlantic travel continues to stick.  

Those were the conclusions drawn by the European Travel Commission on Wednesday in its first official assessment since the start of the Ukraine war, analyzing how Europe’s tourism recovery will fare amid war, geopolitical shifts, inflation, and supply chain disruptions driving up the cost of travel.

“We have to be mindful of the impact this