Chinese Tourists Ramp Up European Summer Trips, as Americans Cut Back
The famously big-spending demographic is back on the road, but not back to its old ways.
Pedestrians along the Champs-Elysees avenue and the Arc de Triomphe during a "car free" day in Paris on May 4, 2025.
Photographer: Ian Langsdon/Getty ImagesNewly cost-sensitive Americans may be hitting the brakes 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.
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.