Fewer Young Tourists in Europe – More in Croatia

(photo/Hideout Festival Croatia)

Popular party destinations such as Spain and the UK have felt a drop in the number of young tourists, whilst Croatia is experiencing growth in that category…

According to IPK International’s World Travel Monitor survey on trends in behaviour of European tourists, young Europeans between the age of 15-24 realised 54 million trips to overseas destinations, creating around 430 million overnight stays last year. Since 2007 the number of young travellers in Europe has declined by more than 1% annually.

In 2007 the most visited destinations were Spain, France, Italy and the UK, but last year all of those destinations saw a decline in the number of 15-24 year-old tourists. Holland, Sweden and Croatia on the other hand have seen an increase in the number of tourists in that age bracket.

Last year Germany was the most visited destination for 15-24 year-old Europeans, with 7 millions arrivals, up 60%. In the last 4 years the report showed that Croatia has seen single-digit growth in the number of youth arrivals.

Croatia can thank its growing music festival scene for its growth over the last few years. Festivals such as Ultra Europe, INmusic, Hideout, Garden, Outlook and Dimensions have bought in loads of youth. Ultra Europe this year, which was held in Split, bought in over 80,000 fans.

When it came to cities, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Amsterdam were the most popular among the youth.