Europe – particularly London, Paris and Rome – continues to be a popular holiday travel destination for Americans, but Iceland has taken a bit of a dip, according to a new survey by Allianz Global Assistance.
American travel to Europe is up 25 percent over last year, overall, and the Top 10 European destinations held onto their rankings since 2018, with frontrunners London (49 percent), Paris (57 percent), Rome (34 percent), Amsterdam (28 percent) and Madrid (18 percent) experiencing healthy gains.
Iceland, which appeared on last year’s list at #11, dropped to #31 and will see 84 percent fewer American visitors to the Nordic country, fueled perhaps in part by the collapse of national air carrier WOW Airlines earlier this year, Allianz said. Scandinavian neighbors including Rovaniemi, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden, (#27) each enjoyed robust gains in American travelers at 154 percent and 71 percent, respectively.
Allianz reviewed 701,583 million itineraries during the peak holiday travel season for departures from U.S. airports to European destinations from Wednesday, November 20, 2019, and returning by Monday, January 6, 2020.
Florence (#20), the third Italian city in Allianz’s Top 20 European Holiday Travel survey, will see an increase of 46 percent of Americans over last year, while Milan (#11) will rise by 35 percent; Venice, which came in at #18 last year and is currently experiencing historical flooding, dropped three spots and out of the Top 20. Czech capital city Prague jumped six spots to #13, with a 42 percent increase in American travelers, and Athens, Greece, increased by 32 percent and now claims the 16th-most popular European holiday destination title.
"According to our data, travel to Europe has increased dramatically this holiday season, perhaps fueled by the increasing popularity of river cruising,” said Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA, in a written statement.
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