Data from the European Travel Commission (ETC), which represents the national tourism organisations of Europe, shows the impact of the pandemic. ETC estimates arrivals in France were -39% last year, with Finland among those hit hardest at -80%.

However, the ETC predicts total tourist arrivals across Europe this year will be just 20% below pre-pandemic levels despite “numerous challenges”. 

The latest quarterly European Tourism Trends & Prospects report said domestic travel was expected to exceed pre-pandemic peaks in 2022, but international travel will be slower on the uptake “and is not likely to fully recover until 2024”.

The organisation said: “ETC expects that the share of European travel from the US will return to pre-pandemic levels relatively quickly, and ahead of demand from other long-haul markets, such as Asia-Pacific, with significant improvement anticipated this year.”

Luis Araujo, ETC president, said: “ETC is optimistic that the European travel sector will overcome Omicron and the many other challenges present in 2022. 

“However, the sector’s resilience is contingent on the EU being proactive in the development of endemic strategies that will allow for the loosening of travel restrictions for intra-European and international travel alike.”