Unlocking Tours and Activities travel demand: Exclusive research for smarter decisions

Katie Moro, representing Amadeus's hospitality division in place of Olivier Ponti, presented exclusive forward-looking air and hospitality data for 2026 at ITB Berlin. Amadeus processes over 470 million bookings annually and boards 2.2 billion passengers per year via its Navitaire partnership, giving it an unparalleled dataset spanning flight schedules, search intent, booking patterns, load factors, and hotel demand from approximately 45,000 properties globally.

The session opened with global air supply growth of 6% year-over-year over the last six months, with European air connectivity up 7% year-on-year and Central and Eastern Europe surging 15% for the next six months — a significant near-term opportunity for destinations in those markets. Copenhagen stood out with 11% year-over-year growth in inbound air connectivity for the next six months, while Barcelona and Madrid also showed strong gains.

On the demand (search intent) side, London, Paris, and Barcelona ranked as the top searched European destinations in 2025. The UK, US, and Germany were the top origin markets searching for European trips. Notably, Polish travelers are up 23% year-over-year in outbound departures from Poland for the next six months, positioning them as a key target audience for European destinations and hotels.

A standout finding was the surge in premium-class bookings from Asia into Europe for H1 2026: Seoul (Korea) up 60%, Tokyo up approximately 35–40%, and Taipei up similarly in double digits. The top receiving destinations for these premium travelers were Milan, Venice, Rome (boosted by the Olympics), Athens, and Istanbul. Moro emphasized this as a high-value segment — premium travelers stay longer, spend more, and are more likely to book additional tours and higher-end accommodation.

The research component drew on surveys of 500 hotel GMs and above, DMOs, and 6,000 leisure and business travelers across the largest global travel markets. Key findings: 60% of travelers want hotels to partner with local businesses or offer local experiences; Amadeus's own Discover platform showed that hotels listing local experiences on their websites — even without direct booking integration — achieved higher conversion rates and increased length of stay. 22% of solo travelers seek personalized insights into local attractions. Perhaps most surprising: 24% of business travelers also said local experiences were important to their decision-making — a segment often assumed to be indifferent to destination amenities. 32% of travelers would pay a 10% premium above their average daily rate for access to local experience guides.

Length-of-stay data segmented by origin region showed intra-European travel dominated by short stays, Americas travelers averaging 6–13 nights (medium stays), and Asia-Pacific travelers averaging 14+ nights — the longest-staying and most valuable segment for destinations and hotels. Traveler group composition varied by destination: solo travelers dominated London and Frankfurt (skewing toward business travel), while Rome and Amsterdam attracted more couples.

Age-based seasonality analysis revealed that younger travelers (25 and under) concentrate in spring break and summer peaks while older travelers fill shoulder seasons. Berlin was highlighted as particularly effective at attracting travelers during low season compared to Copenhagen and Warsaw, which exhibit more extreme seasonality. Moro recommended that Copenhagen and Warsaw specifically target older age segments to flatten their seasonality curves.

Booking lead times averaged 92 days from the UK and 94 days from the US — critical for timing marketing campaigns targeting long-haul inbound travelers. Moro closed with a call to make all advertising decisions data-driven, and offered a QR-code-accessible custom market report for attendees.