“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.”
~ Jamie Lyn Beatty ~
Venice, Italy
The tapestry of European history is undeniable. Ancient ruins and pivotal landmarks are profound and lend an olive branch to our modern world. The romance of Paris, the splendor of Venice and the majestic Greek Islands are all steeped in endless history and fascination.
According to recent data, international travel is back. In 2023, a whopping 704 million ‘holiday makers’ ventured to foreign destinations with approximately one third or 236 million, venturing across the pond from the US to Europe. This almost matches the record of 742 million from 2019 (Source: Statista). Through the first five (5) months of 2024, travel has increased 7% above 2023 figures, so we’ve eclipsed the pre-Covid record high.
Earlier this week, the WSJ reported the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cleared 3 million passengers on June 23rd. An all-time record for a single day and it looks like more to come this 4th of July weekend.
These trends are absolutely fascinating to me as it confirms several changes are in play. The days of only the affluent jet setting off to Europe are long gone. Discount carriers have entered the field to provide more competition and thus lower fares. Further, the European Union has expanded to 27 countries in recent years and are vying for your vacation dollars. A little competition goes a long way! Couple this with the plethora of digital platforms at your fingertips and travel is more abundant than ever.
A strong US dollar has also created a tailwind of affordability. For anyone who follows currency exchange rates, in the summer of 2022, the US dollar and the Euro went to parity ($1.00 = €1.00). This is a rare event which only occurred one other time (2002) in the 25 year history of the Euro (the Euro came into existence in 1998).
As a quick comparison, during the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008, the US dollar fell against many world currencies and $1.00 only fetched €0.50 in February 2008. A 50% drop thus reduced European travel by 6% during the crisis as everything was vastly more expensive.
Travel is big business these days and has been in transition since the early days of Marco Polo (circa 1300) when people traveled by foot, horse and water: sailing and later steamships. The advent of aviation came about with the first commercial flight in 1914 when the Florida based St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line took to the air on January 1. The flight across Tampa Bay was a mere 17 miles but monumental in aviation history and considered to be the first commercial flight of its kind. As a time line reference: The Wright Brothers launched their plane in Kitty Hawk (NC) on December 17, 1903 and Icarus of Greek mythology flew too close to the sun sometime in the 8th century BC. However, we won’t count the failed wax wings as part of aviation history!
In her excellent book “The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel” author Paige McClanahan discusses the good & bad that comes with affordable transportation and the tourism boom. In short: It’s a complicated issue. However, nobody can deny tourism is a major force around the globe and an industry that now represents roughly 10% of world gross domestic product (GDP) and 10% of world employment.
Promoting sustainable travel in the future requires a delicate balance of intelligent economic decisions with pragmatic environmental realities. Truth be told, both are vital for a successful outcome.