Chinese Tourists Ramp Up European Summer Trips, as Americans Cut Back

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(Bloomberg) — Newly cost-sensitive Americans may be hitting the breaks on their big European vacations this summer, but another group is taking up the slack: Chinese travelers. According to a survey about long-haul trips the European Travel Commission (ETC) is publishing on Jun. 10, which was previewed exclusively with Bloomberg, 72% of Chinese respondents say they plan to travel to Europe this summer—up 10% from 2024. The figures reflect the highest demand from Chinese travelers since the pandemic. 

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That should elicit a sigh of relief for hoteliers, restaurateurs and other business owners across the continent who depend on big-spending foreign tourists. Before Chinese outbound tourism ground to a halt in 2020, it represented a particularly lucrative sector in Europe, with Chinese travelers coming in second to Americans in spending.  

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Chinese tourists spent $251 billion abroad in 2024, according to UN tourism, surpassing pre-2020 levels. That makes China the largest market in terms of overall tourism spending, even if until recently most of this revenue was spent on trips within Asia.

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But there’s a significant catch in ETC’s findings: Chinese tourists do not plan to spend like they used to. That’s notable, given the group’s previous propensity for luxury shopping. In fact, just 29% of respondents say they plan to spend more than €200 per day, a 44% drop compared to last summer, and a majority of Chinese travelers—54%—plan to limit their budgets between €100 to €200 a day. 

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Even still, at least 53% of Chinese respondents in ETC’s report indicate shopping will play at least some role on their trips, and budgets are more generous among business travelers, 36% of whom expect to spend more than €200 a day.

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Overall, Chinese tourists are being tighter with their budgets than most of their global counterparts. The ETC’s survey queried 7,100 long-haul travelers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and the US about their summer travel intentions—and results show that a total of 11% of travelers to Europe will be lowering their spending this summer. The overall ratio of travelers spending only €100 to €200 per day (40%) was lower than the Chinese traveler percentages.

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The reality is that in a climate of economic uncertainty, few travelers are splurging—regardless of their origins. That’s echoed in data from the World Travel & Tourism Council showing that tourism growth is expected to slow sharply in 2025. Only a third of the ETC’s American respondents are planning trips to Europe this summer, which is 7% fewer than in 2024. And yet another three markets surveyed in the ETC report—Brazil, Canada and Japan—are on the decline, to a lesser degree. High travel costs and plans to vacation locally are the primary deterrents. 

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Eduardo Santander, chief executive officer of the ETC, sees reasons for optimism. “While recovery from China has been more gradual than other long-haul markets, momentum is clearly building,” he says. Building back business with these travelers, he adds, “remains a top priority for many European destinations.”

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In other words, it’s a relief that Chinese travelers are coming at all. 

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