Brussels, 17/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - According to a new Eurobarometer survey, tourism has been one of the strongholds of the European economy during the economic crisis, and the positive trend will continue in 2014, with only 11% of Europeans expecting not to go away. Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, was delighted with these figures, which he described as “a sign of reliable and outstanding performance of the tourism sector, which continues to be the sound economic driver for the EU recovery”.
In 2013, 38% of Europeans spent their main holiday in another EU country, which is 5 percentage points more compared to 2012. At the same time, only 42% of people spent their main holiday in their own country, a 5-percentage points decrease compared to 2012. Furthermore in 2013, only a fifth (19%) took their main holiday outside the 28 countries of the EU, a 2% decrease compared to 2012. The survey also indicates that: 1) Spain is the top destination with European travellers (15%, +5% compared to 2012), followed by France (11%, +3%), Italy (10%, +2%), Germany (7%, +2%) and Austria (6%, +2%); 2) the majority of Greeks, Croatians, Italians and Bulgarians take their holidays in their own country, whilst most holiday-makers in Luxembourg and Belgium travel to another country in the EU; 3) tourists are very satisfied with tourist infrastructure and the level of security in EU countries (95% for both these aspects); 4) the sun and the beach are the main conditions mentioned for defining a successful holiday (46%); 5) 46% also mentioned the natural beauty of a tourist destination as the main reason for going back to the same place on holiday; 5) 4 out of 10 respondents stated that they did not intend to change their holiday plans in 2014. (IL/transl.fl)