Chinese and Indian tourists to boost Europe’s travel market amid US slowdown

Chinese and Indian tourists are set to make up for a potential slowdown in growth from US travellers to Europe this year, according to a survey published on ‌Wednesday by the European Travel Commission, with international arrivals to the continent set to rise by 6.2 per cent.This is the first sign of a slowdown in the post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong US dollar and economic resilience in North America.An earlier study from industry group the European Travel Commission showed that Americans ⁠were less intent on travelling to Europe in 2026 than in 2025, a trend driven by ‌worsening economic concerns and geopolitical instability.While Chinese arrivals to Europe are set to rise by 28 per cent compared with 2025 and Indian arrivals to climb ‌by 9 per cent, traveller numbers from the Americas were seen growing by just 4.2 per cent.According to ⁠data from aviation ⁠intelligence platform Cirium, bookings from Europe to the US between October 7 and the end of January fell 14.2 per cent year on year, while bookings ‌from the US to Europe slid 7.3 per cent.Despite a tempering of interest from core American travellers, Europe is still seeing a steady ‌rise ‌in both long-haul travellers and in spending, showing that tourists who still want to come are ‌more focused on high-value experiences that can keep the European travel market steady.