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4 clusters · 18 sources · 9 days · First seen · Last updated

Trends in European travel and holiday affordability

Overview

Rising travel expenses and declining purchasing power continue to affect the ability of many to afford holidays. In the European Union, data from 2025 indicates that 27.5% of citizens aged 16 and older were unable to afford a one-week holiday away from home, a slight increase from 27.0% in 2024. Economic disparities remain significant; Romania reports high levels of travel poverty at 61.4%, while Luxembourg reports much lower rates at 10.6%. Other regions with high unaffordability include Montenegro (58%), Albania (53%), and Turkey (51%), contrasted with low rates in Switzerland and Norway (9%).

Despite these recent increases, long-term data shows a decade-long improvement in holiday accessibility. In 2015, 35.2% of the EU population was unable to afford a one-week annual holiday, compared to 27.5% in 2025. However, certain countries have seen rising costs over the last ten years, including Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Austria. In Germany, the rate rose by 1.2 percentage points, while Austria saw a marginal increase of 0.3 points.

Travelers are increasingly adopting cost-saving tactics to manage budgets. In European seaside resorts, visitors are bringing personal foldable gear to avoid sharp increases in beach chair and umbrella rental fees. Additionally, logistical costs such as mobile roaming fees present challenges when traveling outside the EU. A study found that 19% of respondents returned from non-EU trips to unexpected mobile bills, a figure that rises to 54% among 18-to-24-year-olds. Destinations like the UK, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA remain subject to high roaming fees unless travelers use alternative technologies like eSIMs.

Entities

European Union · Eurostat · Switzerland · Germany · Slovakia

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

Timeline

  1. 5 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 2 sources
    European travelers face holiday affordability and roaming fee challenges

    New data shows 27.5% of EU residents cannot afford a week-long holiday, while travelers outside the EU face rising risks of unexpected mobile roaming charges.

  2. 9 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 5 sources
    Europe holiday affordability shows significant decade-long improvement

    The proportion of EU citizens unable to afford a one-week annual holiday dropped from 35.2% in 2015 to 27.5% in 2025, despite rising costs in some Nordic and Central European nations.

  3. 11 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 7 sources
    European travel affordability declines as costs rise

    Eurostat data shows nearly 30% of EU citizens can no longer afford a one-week holiday away from home, driven by rising costs for food, transport, and accommodation.

  4. 14 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 4 sources
    Tourists Adopt Cost‑Saving Tactics as Travel Expenses Rise

    Rising beach rental fees in Europe and inflated costs in Egypt are driving tourists to bring their own gear and follow strict budgeting advice.

Sources

arabic.euronews.com · beobachter.ch · berliner-kurier.de · de.euronews.com · derwesten.de · ereport.sk · es.euronews.com · fashionsublime.com · gr.euronews.com · medium.seznam.cz · moin.de · news.refresher.sk · news38.de · pt.euronews.com · thueringen24.de · vieh.at · wiki.idnes.cz · www1.pluska.sk

This summary has been updated 2 times: see revision history