How Travel Brands Can Connect With Tourists From Key European Markets

France, Germany and the United Kingdom have long been key inbound markets for U.S. tourism, and that stands to continue throughout 2025. What’s more, citizens of these countries don’t need a visa to take a trip to the U.S., unlike other key markets such as India and China, meaning volume is less likely to be impacted by increased visa wait times or stricter regulations that may be looming.

But each group brings with it unique behaviors and expectations. In order to connect with these travelers and provide a positive experience, perhaps resulting in future visits or recommendations to others, brands must understand these elements and tailor products, services and messaging accordingly.

The demographic makeup of European international travelers mostly mirrors the general population 

International travelers from each of these European markets — defined as those who have taken at least one leisure trip and who have traveled abroad within the past year — look fairly demographically similar to the general market, unlike the profile of U.S. travelers. In each market, the cohort skews slightly male, is more likely to be married and to have children than the general population. However the differences are much smaller in these groups than among U.S. travelers, who are 10 points more likely than the general population to be male, for example.

European cohorts are also more consistent across the generations than the U.S, which has a younger skew, with variances of only a few points from the general population. For brands, this means attracting all travelers, including older baby boomers who may have different needs than younger travelers when it comes to accessibility.

But the most notable difference is in income breaks. By nature of being an international traveler and requiring more disposable income, this group tends to consist of higher earners across all markets. However, travel is clearly more democratized for the European populations, where lower earners are underrepresented by far less than they are in the U.S. cohort. 

Naturally, some of this may be rooted in the ease of international travel for Europeans — with smaller countries and closer, visa-free borders, movement between nations is larger and less expensive. Still, it reflects a wider swathe of the population with different spending patterns who may potentially visit the U.S. 

Travel brands will need to scrutinize social strategy to reach European vacationers

Social media is a key channel for many U.S. travel brands to engage potential customers, and with good reason. U.S. adults in general tend to use multiple social platforms in their day-to-day lives, but international leisure travelers are even more engaged than the average adult. In comparison, international travelers from key European markets, while more socially engaged than their general market counterparts, are less likely than U.S. travelers to be active on every major social platform.

In some cases, the differences are minor — a strong majority of travelers from these European markets use YouTube, and more than two thirds of each group also use Facebook. But usage varies greatly for other platforms. Most notable in the travel industry are Instagram and TikTok, both incredibly popular amongst U.S. international travelers, and both popular platforms that are used in the early stages of trip planning. But while 77% of U.S. travelers use Instagram, the share in the other markets is at least 12 points lower. The gap is even wider for TikTok, which is used by 59% of U.S. travelers, but 45% of French, 42% of German and 37% of U.K. ones.

That said, another platform — WhatsApp — presents some potential opportunities. While many in the U.S. still treat WhatsApp as solely a messaging service, functions are much more widespread for international users. Brands leverage the platform for seamless communication and customer service, including calls and messages, but also for commercial purposes (including direct sales) and more. 

International users are comfortable with WhatsApp, having used its messaging function for a long time in place of often-costly SMS communications, so they’re primed to embrace it as a tool for brand communication. As it stands now, 90% of German, 81% of U.K. and 70% of French international travelers use WhatsApp, compared with 64% in the U.S. Travel companies hoping to engage with visitors from these European markets should leverage the platform to connect, respond, and potentially even drive sales and bookings.

European travelers are more apt to book traditional travel brands than engage in the sharing economy

For travelers in the U.S. the sharing economy has truly mainstreamed. Travelers compare hotels to vacation rentals (though specific travel occasions often dictate accommodation types), and many, especially younger generations, are perfectly comfortable leveraging rideshare apps in the place of renting a car or taking a taxi. The same is not necessarily true for travelers from European markets. 

While over half of U.S. international travelers have stayed at a vacation rental at least once in the past year, only around 2 in 5 travelers from the U.K. and Germany have done so. What’s more, the share of German travelers who have stayed in a hotel at least 12 times is the highest amongst all of the groups, suggesting that the low vacation rental usage is due to accommodation preference rather than lack of opportunity to do so. Brands in this space will have to clearly communicate the benefits of vacation rentals to these travelers, while on the other hand, hotels can play to their advantage to drive bookings.

One exception on the accommodation side is French travelers’ usage of vacation rentals. This group is more likely to have stayed in one in the past year than U.S. travelers, the only group for whom this is true. And what’s potentially more interesting is the ratio of hotel to vacation rental stays, which is the smallest amongst French travelers, suggesting a particular openness to rental properties that doesn’t yet exist amongst other nationalities.

Also notably different in usage between U.S. and European travelers are ride-hailing apps. Despite a lower price point than accommodations, European travelers are more likely to say that they haven’t used a ride-hailing app in the last year than U.S. travelers.

Some of this may speak to the European lifestyle — access to reliable public transportation within and between cities can often negate the need for a ride-hailing platform. That said, European travelers coming to the U.S. may not have those tools in many cases, in which case they would be seeking some form of transport.

In short, ride-hailing platforms will need to take an awareness and education based approach in order to connect with European travelers. On the flip side, this could be an opportunity for rental car companies to tap into ride-hailing hesitance and encourage bookings with those who would rather get behind the wheel on their own.

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