We expect a sharp rebound in spending on European summer travel, ” ANZ said. Customers are reawakening their love of traveling the continent by land! After an extremely difficult period dealing with high inflation in both Australia and Europe, the bank has received some excellent news. Last year in 2024, its customers from the United States made over 100,000 trips to Europe! But total spending by these travelers has dropped 19 percent since last year.
Average ANZ customer spend in Europe fell by 13 percent in 2024. This drop happened despite overall spending going down. Analysts are predicting that with the spending for European travel this year, it won’t be a record-setting $313 million like last year. There’s growing hope that travel might be coming back with a vengeance.
Yiken Yang, ANZ’s managing director of everyday banking, stated, “Our data shows that customers are reigniting their passion for European travel. We’re seeing strong growth in early planning activity.” This sentiment is a reflection of a growing trend in air travel. Global capacity continues to increase with now more capacity, in terms of available seats on planes, than this time last year and even above 2019 levels.
According to FCM Consulting, international hotel and air bookings from January through May are up 11 percent. This momentum looks good in the rearview mirror, too. This increase is indicative of the fact that Australians are re-discovering their love for classic European destinations. Simultaneously, they are discovering emerging hotspots such as Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, which have both recorded stellar double-digit year-on-year increases in expenditure.
ANZ’s customers are keen to get away from the winter months in their home country. They are instead opting for up-and-coming destinations like Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Japan instead of Europe. Trips across the Atlantic to Europe are way down this year. As travelers begin to plan their trips well in advance, experts are anticipating a healthy return to form.
ANZ admits that based on what they’re seeing now, that spending is unlikely to return to last year’s record highs. Yet, despite these problems, they express hopefulness for what lies ahead. “While we may not hit the $313 million peak of 2023, 2025 is shaping up as a vibrant resurgence for the travel sector,” shared an anonymous source within ANZ.
