Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel (MSIET Wave23)– Key Results

News & Trends Business Intelligence 10. November 2025

Method:

ETC’s continuous Monitoring Sentiment for Domestic and Intra-European Travel (MSIET) survey explores the travel sentiment of 10 major European source markets every 2 to 3 months: DE, UK, FR, NL, IT, BE, CH, ES, PL and AT. For each wave, around n=6’000 people are surveyed online (via survey platform pollfish). The last wave took place 06-26 September 2025 (sample, n=5’963).

Key Results:

  1. Travel intention 🗺️: 73% of Europeans plan a trip this autumn and winter – Travellers aged 45-54 are most eager to travel (76%, +3%). 
  2. Markets most likely to travel 📊: People from those 3 countries are most likely to travel in the next six months: Poland (82%), Spain (80%) and the UK (80%).
  3. Main travel criteria remain the same as in previous survey 🔝:
    • No. 1:  Destination’s safety
    • No. 2: Pleasant weather
    • No. 3: Bargains & Deals
  4. Peaks 🎄 Europeans’ travel interest peaks in October and December, mirroring last year’s trend. Family travel peaks around Christmas. 
  5. Off-the-beaten- track 👣: Half of Europeans plan to visit major tourist destinations, while the other half seek less popular or off-the-beaten-track locations. Especially from these five markets: Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Poland and Germany. 
  6. City breaks 🏙️: City breaks lead autumn travel as well as Culture & Heritage, Nature & Outdoor and Wellness & Relaxation trips. A smaller group seeks Culinary/Food & Wine travel, Touring/Road Trips or a Ski/Snowboard trip in the mountains. 
  7. Length of stay, spendings and travel mode: ⏳ Trips of 4-6 nights remain European’s top choice. Trip length increases among older traveller’s. // 💸 Traveller’s age 25-44 are most likely to spend over 1’500 Euros. // ✈️ Europeans’ demand for air travel has risen to 57% (+4%), while train journeys remain stable at 13%. 
  8. Travel in the era of climate change 🌡️: More than three in four Europeans adapt their travel plans because of the climate crises, mainly by picking places with milder weather and checking the forecast before booking.
  9. Key barriers to travel ⛔: Financial limitations (36%), limited time to travel (27%) and health reasons (7%). 
  10. Key travel concerns ⚡️:
    • No. 1: Inflation / Economic situation / Personal finances (in total). Strong in all European countries.
    • No. 2: Conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
    • No. 3: Too many visitors at the destinations. 
    • → Young travellers (18–24) show greater concern than those over 54 about the environmental impact of their travel (16% vs. 10%) 

More information and results here.