LONDON, December 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Despite a year of economic uncertainty Europeans are still spending on travel according to Trainline, Europe's leading independent train ticket retailer
-Italians clocked up the most trips in 2016, followed by Germans, French and Brits -
-Italians topped travel spending at a total of €358.9 billion in 2016 -
-Spain the travel capital of Europe, 2016 -
-Brits least likely to take a break in their own country-
- French least likely to travel abroad, with almost half claiming not to go abroad at all -
A survey released today by Trainline reveals that, despite an economically challenging year, Europeans are still prioritising spending on travel, both at home and abroad. The average spent across the four countries surveyed (UK, France, Germany and Italy) was €279 billion and at the number one slot were the Italians spending a huge €6953 per head or €358.9 billion in total. German holiday-makers came in at number two spending €4959 per head or €349.5 billion in total; the Brits came third spending €3977 a head or €206.8 billion and the savviest travellers were the French, spending €3769 per head or €199 billion in total.[ * * ]
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161130/444328 )
As the biggest spenders it was also the Italians who clocked up the most trips away, taking an average of 5.4 holidays or short breaks a year; Germans took 3.8; the French 3.3 and the Brits took the least of all at 3.1 on average.[ ** * ]
In contrast to the Italians, the French were happy to stay put with almost half claiming not to have travelled abroad. This trend was not reflected amongst Brits, who were the least interested in travelling in their own country in comparison to their European cousins. One in ten (10%) Brits did not travel within Britain at all, compared less than 1% of Italians (0.8%); 6% of Germans and 3% of French. Instead, Brits preferred to join the majority of Europe in heading to Spain, with almost a third of all age groups saying they visited the country in the past year and all nationalities, with the exception of Italy, chose it as the number one destination for 2016.
A Trainline spokesperson said; "The results of our survey mirror what we see in our travel bookings. Despite economic challenges we continue to see people travelling for leisure by train both at home and cross border, a clear sign that holidays and short breaks aren't seen as a luxury any nationality is willing to give up."
Why we go away
For a significant number of leisure travellers from the UK, France and Italy, the number one reason for going away was to 'discover somewhere new'. The exception to this was the Germans who preferred to travel so they could spend time relaxing on the beach.
It seems the French, Germans and Italians were far more interested in seeing nature and scenery than Brits, with almost half giving this as a reason for travelling, compared to just over a quarter of Brits (28%). Other popular motivating factors included food; sporting events and attending festivals.
Capitals Remain King
For European travellers, capital cities were still the main draw with London being the most visited city in the UK and almost 85% of those travelling to England visiting the capital city ahead of Liverpool, Manchester and Cornwall. For France, Paris was the most popular tourist attraction with 60% of people visiting; for Germany it was Berlin with almost half the tourists stopping by the capital (48%) and Italy it was Rome (41%). These popular destinations are quick and easy to reach by train with those travelling by rail valuing the ease, comfort, short travel time and the ability to get straight to the destination.
Family Breaks Most Popular in France
The most popular way for Europeans to travel on holiday was in a couple, followed closely by 'with the family'. Almost one in ten Europeans (10%) travelled alone. Despite the nation's romantic reputation; it was family, rather than couple holidays that came top in France (45% vs 35%) - the only nation where family travel was preferred to travelling a-deux.
Find out what kind of traveller you are and how you compare to others by taking the Trainline quiz at http://www.trends.trainline.eu
AboutTrainline
Trainline is Europe's leading independent retailer of train tickets. We sell tickets worldwide on behalf of 44 train companies, helping our customers make more than 100,000 smarter journeys every single day in and across 24 countries. We are a one-stop shop for train travel, bringing together all major train companies onto one platform and providing our customers with a complete set of travel options. We make it easy for our customers to find the best price for their journey.
Notes to editors:
Survey was conducted by Censuswide and surveyed a total of 8,258 Europeans (2,022 in France, 2,001 in Germany, 2,017 in Italy and 2,218 in the UK.) Survey was conducted in November 2016. Full survey data is available on request.
*Survey was conducted in Europe's four largest countries.
**Average spend per head:
Mean Mean own abroad country incl. incl. Spend per Per capita non- non- Spend per holiday Per capita spend, in holidayers holidayers holiday in own spend, own abroad country abroad country UK 1.233 1.890 GBP2148.40 GBP406.80 GBP2648.98 GBP768.85 France 1.065 2.282 EUR2245.70 EUR603.40 EUR2391.68 EUR1376.96 Germany 1.503 2.299 EUR2403.10 EUR586.10 EUR3611.86 EUR1347.44 Italy 1.826 3.565 EUR2457.20 EUR691.90 EUR4486.85 EUR2466.62 (table continued) Total Total per per capita capita Total Total per spend (UK spend capita in Euros, among holiday today's spending all spend rate) rank adults UK GBP3417.83 EUR3977.64 3rd EUR206.8billion/ GBP177billion France EUR3768.64 EUR3768.64 4th EUR199billion Germany EUR4959.30 EUR4959.30 2nd EUR349.5billion Italy EUR6953.47 EUR6953.47 1st EUR358.9billion
Factoring in the amount spent, and using today's mid-market exchange rate* (£1 = €1.16379, the fact that Brits go on more holidays abroad than the French bumps the UK above France in per capita holiday spending, with Italy and Germany retaining the top two spots.
Exchange rate taken from xe.com at 16:05, 18/11/2016
*** Average holidays taken:
For the most travelled nation calculation, we need to factor in the people who did not qualify for the survey (i.e. those who said they did not travel either abroad or in their own country), in order to calculate the average for the populations as a whole. The resulting calculations for this work out as follows, with the whole population figures in green:
Total mean % who go Mean Mean incl. Mean Mean incl. holidays on holidays non-holida holidays in non-holida (whole holidays abroad yers own country yers pop.) Rank UK 82.19% 1.5 1.233 2.3 1.890 3.123 4th France 76.08% 1.4 1.065 3 2.282 3.347 3rd Germany 88.43% 1.7 1.503 2.6 2.299 3.802 2nd Italy 86.95% 2.1 1.826 4.1 3.565 5.391 1st
