Requesting a rebound encounters a shortage of manpower. Does the European tourism industry enter or retreat this summer?

The epidemic caused nearly 190,000 people in the European aviation industry to unemployment.

The problem of inflation has continued to deteriorate, the influence of Russia and Ukraine's conflict, and the new crown cases are still growing. The uncertainty brought by these problems has covered the development of European tourism. Nevertheless, the European Tourism Commission (ETC) expects that passenger travel will still have a strong intention in this summer.

The latest issue of ETC's "European Tourism Trends and Prospects" report shows that in the summer of 2022, the recovery of the entire industry is ready to go, and consumers have certain savings, which will promote the increase in tourism demand.

ETC predicts that European travel demand this year will return to 70%before the epidemic. According to the data as of May this year, the number of international passengers in Bulgaria (-8%), Serbia (-10%) and Turkey (-14%) recovered the most strongly, a decrease of 8%-14%compared to the same period in 2019. Other destinations that restore faster include Monaco (-22%), Croatia (-30%), Iceland (-35%) and Slovenia (-37%).

Judging from the number of tourists overnight, Serbia has the fastest recovery, an increase of 21.3%compared to the same period in 2019, followed by Denmark and Bulgaria. The number of international passengers received by Germany, Czech Republic, and other countries is still less than 50%of the same period in 2019.

ETC Chairman Luís Araújo said that many countries have canceled travel restrictions, and people are eager to make up for travel opportunities that have been lost in the past two years. The actual recovery speed of the European tourism industry is far beyond expectations, but the shortage of personnel will hinder the comprehensive recovery.

In the next few months, attracting the return of talents will be the key to promoting the recovery of the European tourism industry.

01 Tourism recovery exceeds expectations

According to data from the economic research company Oxford Economics, the number of tourists in the European Union in May this year has exceeded the level before the epidemic. Among them, Spain and Portugal recovery are the fastest, followed by Italy, Greece, Croatia and Malta.

ETC expects that this momentum will continue until the whole summer, and 73%of the respondents say that there will be a travel plan in the next 6 months.

The data of the hotel data analysis company's STR shows that the European hotel industry has the strongest recovery. The occupancy rate in the first five months of this year has doubled year -on -year. The REVPAR increase even reached 217%, far exceeding the growth rate of other regions. In contrast, the hotel industry in the Asia -Pacific region has the slowest speed.

The global short -term rental industry has recovered significantly, close to or even exceeds the level before the epidemic.

02 The high inflation rate will be transformed by promoting travel needs to domestic travel and short -distance travel.

Despite the strong intention of European consumers, people's savings have been occupied due to rising energy and food prices, and people's savings have been occupied. In addition, the soaring fuel prices also directly increases travel costs. To cope with this impact, consumers may choose home vacations or take neighboring countries as their destinations.

According to this trend, short -distance tourism will continue to promote the recovery of European tourism. The number of passengers in the long -distance customers market is obviously backward, especially in Asia, which is still affected by epidemic -related travel restrictions.

China used to be one of the largest customers in Europe, and the number of Chinese passengers going to European destinations from January to May this year has been greatly reduced. The number of Chinese passengers in most European countries decreased by more than 70%, and the decline in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries even exceeded 95%.

At the same time, despite the obvious intention of American tourists, the actual recovery speed is still less than expected. Before June, US citizens who returned from Europe needed nucleic acid testing before travel, which may be suppressed to a certain extent.

03 Manpower shortage restricts the recovery of European tourism needs

Since 2022, the recovery of tourism demand has exceeded expectations, but the problem of manpower shortage has restricted the comprehensive recovery of the European tourism industry. Many European destinations may be difficult to meet the surge in passengers this summer.

A survey by the Irish National Tourism Development Agency shows that 88%of companies are difficult to recruit new employees and 68%of companies are facing re -employment problems. This phenomenon is very common throughout Europe.

The problem of manpower shortage not only happened in the hotel industry, but also more serious in the aviation industry. During the epidemic, nearly 190,000 employees in the European aviation industry were fired. Although airports and airports are already promoting recruitment, it is unlikely to meet the needs of passengers this summer. The impact of manpower shortage has also been prominent.

On the first weekend of June, the cancellation rate of British flights reached 4%, which was 3 percentage points compared to usual, and the Dutch flight cancellation rate was as high as 11%. In order to alleviate the problem of manpower shortage, multiple airports are cutting the number of flights. In addition, the employees of some airports announced their strikes, and it is expected that the chaos will continue the whole summer.

Reference materials:

Strong Outlook for EUROPEAN TOURISM Recovery But Staff Shortages and Cost of Living Crisis Loom. (ETC Corporate)

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