European city breaks generate over €500 million tourism revenue
European city breaks generate over €500 million tourism revenue
City breaks are big business it would seem. New data released by a leading travel event organiser demonstrates
exactly how profitable this side of tourism is and how the trend looks set to continue.
Using figures from European City Marketing (ECM), Reed Travel Exhibitions reveals that
Europe's premier city
destinations generated €540 million from tourism in 2006, an impressive increase of €19.2 million the previous year.
Further data reveal that as well as increased revenue, a growth in bednight volume was also experienced; the 2007/08
report highlighted an average annual increase of more than 600,000 bednights per year in Europe's largest cities.
Destinations which are easily accessible using low-cost airlines were particularly popular, such as
Cologne,
Tallinn,
Zurich,
Tarragona and
Dublin.
The size of the city break industry should not be underestimated as Mark Walsh, group exhibition director of Reed
Travel Exhibitions, points out: "The sheer size of the city break market is immense; city tourism nowadays accounts
for almost 40 per cent of the total European outbound trip volumes. Based on these facts, approximately 20 per cent
of international tourism receipts are generated in European cities. This all underpins the buoyant market of this
rapidly expanding industry."
The popularity of city breaks is not just a flash in the pan; rather it seems to be a sign of things to come
according to the event organiser. The volume of low-cost flights is set to take off even further this year and grow
by 14 per cent, which, when combined with a change in consumer travel and spending habits, Reed Travel Exhibitions says, should lead to the
growth of the city break over the coming years.
The increasing popularity of the city break has encouraged the exhibition organiser to host the City Break exhibition for the
third year in a row. The event in Belgrade will bring together exhibitors from over 70 European destinations,
including Europe's up and coming cities as well as their more established counterparts.
This story was brought to you by holiday
lettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website.
7 May 2008
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