US visitors wary of Ukraine threaten European travel recovery

Airlines and hoteliers have warned that the conflict in Ukraine is causing high-spending US travellers to hold off visiting Europe, slowing the industry’s long recovery from the pandemic. Dermot Crowley, CE of the Irish hotel group Dalata, said that “concern” over the Russian invasion of Ukraine “may make North Americans nervous about coming to Europe”, while French hotel operator Accor said it expected bookings across all hotel groups in Europe to suffer. A US airline official agreed, saying American tourists were likely to be put off visiting parts of the continent, particularly central or eastern Europe, citing the slowdown in US visitors travelling east during the first Gulf war. Heathrow airport last week warned that “concerns from US travellers over war in Europe” was contributing to “huge uncertainty” about passenger numbers this year. Travel marketing company MMGY said 47% of Americans planning trips to Europe had decided to “wait and see” how the situation in Ukraine unfolds. Many industry executives say passengers from the US are particularly sensitive to travel near conflict zones, and the crisis in Ukraine has evoked memories of the 1990-1991 Gulf war when tourism from North America to Europe collapsed. Flight booking data underline the travel executives’ fears. Bookings between the US and Europe fell 13% week-on-week in the seven days following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, according to research firm ForwardKeys. Hopper, a travel app, also reported weakening demand for transatlantic flights. In the week following the start of military action, bookings for all European countries except Belgium, Iceland and Serbia declined between 10 and 30%, according to Forward Keys.<br/>