London and Paris Continue to Attract the Most Travelers Abroad, Top Cities in Portugal, Greece, Denmark and Sweden See Triple-Digit Increases Over 2019 Traveler Numbers
Richmond, Virginia, November 7, 2022 – Many Americans dream of a holiday vacation to Europe to explore the culture and history of the continent, and the strong exchange rate of U.S. currency has spurred a renaissance for overseas holiday travel. Major capital cities continue to attract travelers following a two-year pause, according to the Allianz Partners 2022 European Holiday Destination Index, and several locations will experience a significant rise in holiday visitation this year.
Allianz Partners USA reviewed more than 608,000 travel itineraries* across the peak holiday travel period to highlight the season’s most popular European destinations for 2022. Roundtrip flights departing from United States airports between Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and Thursday, January 5, 2023, were considered.
| 2022 Holiday Travel to Europe: Top 20 Destinations | ||
| 2022 Rank | Destination + (2019 Rank) | Change since 2019 |
| 1 | London, England (1) | + 20% |
| 2 | Paris, France (2) | + 13% |
| 3 | Madrid, Spain (5) | + 7% |
| 4 | Rome, Italy (3) | + 35% |
| 5 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands (4) | + 4% |
| 6 | Frankfurt, Germany (7) | + 45% |
| 7 | Barcelona, Spain (6) | – 12% |
| 8 | Dublin, Ireland (9) | + 76% |
| 9 | Lisbon, Portugal (12) | + 173% |
| 10 | Munich, Germany (8) | – 6% |
| 11 | Milan, Italy (11) | + 17% |
| 12 | Zurich, Switzerland (10) | + 3% |
| 13 | Athens, Greece (16) | + 154% |
| 14 | Copenhagen, Denmark (25) | + 144% |
| 15 | Edinburgh, Scotland (22) | + 76% |
| 16 | Brussels, Belgium (14) | – 22% |
| 17 | Manchester, Great Britain (15) | – 26% |
| 18 | Stockholm, Sweden (27) | + 160% |
| 19 | Vienna, Austria (17) | – 13% |
| 20 | Venice, Italy (21) | + 30% |
London continues to dominate the travel scene, far and away the most-popular city to visit this holiday season and capturing the hearts of nearly double those headed to the City of Lights which holds steady in second this year. Madrid moves up to round out the top three, jumping two spots from the last index, and with other minor shifts in the Top 10 positions.
Most notably, four European cities in the Top 20 are seeing triple-digit increases in travelers expected for this holiday season. Lisbon (Portugal) cracks the Top 10 while Athens (Greece), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Stockholm (Sweden) each move up as many as nine positions from their previous spots.
“While inflation has caused the prices of almost everything to soar, travelers have seen the value of the dollar also surge, gain parity with the Euro and the pound, and boost their holiday budgets,” says Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA. “Even so, most of us can’t afford to lose what we’ve invested for these big holiday trips, making a travel insurance policy the best gift to add to your holiday shopping list. It can provide peace of mind by safeguarding pre-paid travel investments from covered unexpected events like trip cancellations or interruptions, travel delays, baggage issues or even medical emergencies.”
In March 2021, Allianz Partners announced enhancements** to many of its travel insurance products in most states through an Epidemic Coverage Endorsement. Products that include this endorsement may provide coverage to customers who become ill with COVID-19 or a future epidemic, are individually ordered to quarantine, or are denied boarding due to a suspected illness. These products also may cover emergency medical care and transportation or provide reimbursement for change fees and loyalty points deposit fees if the customer becomes ill with an epidemic disease. Availability of the Epidemic Coverage Endorsement, and specific covered reasons under that endorsement, varies by product and by state. See your plan for details.
Allianz Partners offers travel insurance through most major U.S. airlines, leading travel agents, online travel agencies, hotel companies, cruise lines and directly to consumers. For more information on Allianz and available travel policies, please visit http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/.
*Methodology: The data of U.S. travelers’ 2022 European travel plans was gathered by analyzing the number of travelers that went through the online booking process of airfare and package paths for partners offering Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance to generate itineraries for roundtrip flights departing from U.S. airports to European destinations between 11/23/22-1/5/2023. In total, 608,000 itineraries were analyzed using this methodology.
About Allianz Partners
In the United States, Allianz Partners USA (AGA Service Company) offers Allianz Travel-branded travel protection plans and serves millions of customers each year. In addition to travel protection, the company offers event ticket protection, registration protection for endurance events and unique travel assistance services such as international medical assistance and concierge services. AGA Service Company is doing business as Allianz Global Assistance Insurance Agency in California (License # 0B01400) and Massachusetts. Allianz Partners USA is part of the Allianz Partners group. Allianz Partners is a world leader in B2B2C insurance and assistance, offering global solutions that span international health and life, travel insurance, mobility and assistance. Customer driven, our innovative experts are redefining insurance services by delivering future-ready, high-tech, high-touch products and solutions that go beyond traditional insurance. Present in over 75 countries, our 19,400 employees speak 70 languages, handle over 58 million cases each year, and are motivated to go the extra mile to offer peace of mind to our customers around the world.