Exclusive: U.S. Outbound Travel is 'Booming,' Says Eurostar CEO

Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series

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Eurostar – best known for connecting London with Paris and Brussels via high-speed trains – is international by design.

Its core customer base is concentrated in the five countries in which it operates, but passengers from further afield are increasingly important. Last year, one in every eight customers was from outside Europe, and this number is expected to grow further in 2025.

Speaking exclusively to Skift for the latest in our Leaders of Travel: C-Suite Series, Eurostar chief executive, Gwendoline Cazenave, shares her candid insights on U.S. booking trends, premium travel, and why she believes “punitive sustainability” doesn’t work. 

As a French native and 20-year veteran of the rail industry, Cazenave is aware of the traditional perception of the company. “Eurostar is actually much more than a train underwater from London to Paris,” she quips. A 2022 merger with continental high-speed operator Thalys expanded Eurostar’s footprint. “It's now 28 destinations in Europe, across five countries.”

Cazenave uses the term “high flows” to describe what Eurostar does. It’s a compelling combination of high-speed, high-frequency, and high-capacity travel. At peak times between the company’s biggest cities – London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Cologne – there’s a train every 30 minutes. On key routes, Eurostar’s trains have 894 seats. That’s the equivalent of five Airbus A320 aircraft spread across 16 carriages.

The company serves a catchment area of 245 million customers, but this isn’t a closed-loop operation for locals. Overseas consumers are a vital part of Eurostar’s business model, especially when filling more lucrative premium seats.

Outside of Eurostar’s home markets, North America is the star performer, with transatlantic travelers helping make last year the company's most successful yet. Around 19.6 million passengers used the network in 2024, a rise of 850,000