Climate patterns, school holidays, and long-established travel habits naturally concentrate demand into relatively short periods of the year. For some destinations, this means operating at full capacity during peak months while facing significant underutilisation during the rest of the year.

The challenge is substantial. According to Eurostat, “July and August accounted for 31% of all annual nights spent in EU tourist accommodation in 2025.” In countries such as Croatia, Greece and Bulgaria, more than 40% of annual tourism nights were concentrated during those two months.

The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has similarly highlighted variability of tourism demand throughout the year as a potential source of economic vulnerability. Destinations that combine high tourism intensity with high seasonality can become particularly exposed to sudden sectoral shocks because so much economic activity is concentrated within a small part of the year.

Against this backdrop, the latest European Accommodation Barometer set out to explore this very theme.

Rather than accepting seasonality as a challenge to be endured, hoteliers are experimenting with and deploying creative strategies to bolster demand outside traditional peak periods.

Moving beyond discounts

Discounting remains the most common tool used: nearly nine in ten European accommodations offer special rates, discounts, or bundled packages during quieter periods.

However, the more important lesson is that this structural challenge cannot be addressed through a one-size-fits-all approach. European accommodation providers are remarkably diverse, ranging from independent guesthouses and short-term rentals to campgrounds and international hotel chains.

The strategies that work best depend on the type of property, its location, and the visitors it hopes to attract. The common thread is not the specific tool being used, but the willingness to mix and match multiple approaches and calibrate in real time.

European accommodations use a wide range of distribution channels, host events, or partner with event organisers. Creating demand outside the peak season requires both an attractive offer and an effective route to market.

A discounted stay becomes hotel revenue only if and when a potential guest discovers it.

When asked which channels are most effective in securing off-season stays, hoteliers overwhelmingly pointed to online travel agencies. More than four in five respondents described them as effective.

Platforms like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb make it easier for travellers to discover destinations, compare options, and make informed choices. As two-sided marketplaces, online travel platforms depend on the success of the hospitality partners that list with them, including smaller and independent properties that get access to scale and thus are better able to stay competitive.

This matters particularly for destinations outside the traditional tourism hotspots.

Previous research commissioned by Booking.com and carried out by Tourism Economics found that while only 16% of accommodation bookings in Europe were in rural areas overall, that figure increased to 38% for bookings made through online travel platforms.

In other words, the tools used to market and distribute tourism can also influence where tourism takes place.

Events are becoming a strategic tool

Another notable finding from this year’s Barometer is the growing role of event-driven hospitality. Half of European accommodations reported benefiting from events over the past twelve months.

For many operators, events are doing far more than generating short-term occupancy gains. Two-thirds reported higher revenue per room, while six in ten saw increased bookings during periods that would otherwise have experienced weaker demand. More than half said event-driven travel helped offset lower income-generation at other times of the year.

This is an important distinction. Unlike many businesses with relatively stable demand curves, accommodation providers face high volatility. When events take place, they also face higher operating demands: 66% adjust staffing schedules and pay overtime, while 42% hire temporary or additional staff. Room rates are one of the mechanisms that help balance supply and demand during these periods, but they also reflect the additional costs of operating at peak capacity and the reality that demand is often concentrated into relatively short periods of the year.

Conferences, trade fairs, sporting competitions, concerts, festivals and cultural events all have the potential to attract visitors during shoulder season. In doing so, they can help spread tourism activity more evenly throughout the year.

Half of European hoteliers say they would like to coordinate more closely with local authorities and tourism boards around event-related demand. This was one of the clearest signals in the survey: accommodations increasingly view seasonality not simply as a hotel issue, but as a destination-wide challenge requiring collaboration across the tourism ecosystem.

Local communities are part of the solution

The Barometer also highlights a connection that is sometimes overlooked in discussions about seasonality. Travel accommodations are deeply embedded within their local economies.

Across Europe, many establishments source a substantial share of their non-labour spending locally, while 43% also make facilities such as restaurants, meeting rooms, fitness centres, or wellness areas available to residents.

This local integration becomes particularly relevant when thinking about year-round tourism.

Destinations that maintain vibrant economies, active cultural calendars, and strong community engagement often create more reasons for visitors to travel outside traditional peak periods. At the same time, more evenly distributed tourism activity can support local businesses beyond the summer season.

The relationship works both ways.

A shared challenge

The European Commission has noted that better use of existing tourism infrastructure and staff in the low season can help businesses improve productivity and support a more stable workforce. That is a useful way to frame the issue: seasonality is not only about filling rooms, but about making better use of the capacity Europe has already built.

This cyclical pressure isn’t going anywhere. As an industry, we can and should strive to make the peaks less overwhelming and the quieter months more viable. This has to be a multi-stakeholder, destination-specific conversation that provides a view of what makes it worth visiting: not only beds and beaches, but also events, culture, seamless transport infrastructure, unique local businesses, and the distribution channels, digital or otherwise, that connect travellers to them.

The more destinations that get this right, the stronger Europe’s travel ecosystem will be.

L’article Rethinking seasonality est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

And yet, the travel industry remains strikingly underappreciated by Europe’s top decision-makers.

If we add up international tourism receipts for the EU’s top ten markets in 2024, the figure comes to roughly €400 billion – comparable to the size of a mid-sized EU member state. Unlike other revenue streams, tourism receipts count as service exports – real money flowing in from outside into the local economies of Member States, supporting jobs that cannot be offshored.

The latest European Accommodation Barometer 2025 paints a clear picture: the sector is “grounded, growing, and optimistic about the future.” Even as the revenge-travel wave (post-COVID) recedes, the industry is stabilising at a high level, with 63% of accommodations anticipating positive business development over the next six months.

This optimism reflects real momentum in the market, and Southern Europe – particularly Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – continues to show sustained strength. The sector’s trajectory stands in stark contrast with the caution prevalent in the Europe-wide market outlook.

Europe’s travel and tourism sector is labour-intensive, geographically distributed, and uniquely resilient. From alpine guesthouses to coastal inns, the accommodation industry sustains local economies that would otherwise struggle with youth unemployment, if not depopulation. It anchors supply chains that include food growers, caterers, artisans, local services, and even European tech vendors like Booking.com or Amadeus. Travel and tourism is also an inclusive employer: more than half of workers in the sector are women, and small, family-run businesses make up the majority of market players.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the European travel industry. In its Annual Report on European SMEs, the European Commission estimated that they generate 81% of the value added and account for nearly 85% of employment in hospitality. But it’s not just about numbers; SMEs are central to the sector’s identity and provide the diversity and authenticity that draws global travellers to Europe in the first place.

Despite their outsized role, these SMEs face mounting challenges.

The Accommodation Barometer reveals a consistent performance gap between chain-affiliated and independent properties. Chain hotels show higher sentiment, stronger outlooks, and better tech adoption rates. AI tools, automation, and data analytics are beginning to transform the sector – but smaller businesses are at risk of falling behind. The biggest barriers? Cost, staffing, and lack of digital skills.

Upskilling and tech adoption remain elusive goals for many. Without targeted support, this innovation gap will only widen, entrenching a two-speed industry.

By using open platforms like ours, SMEs can focus on delivering high-value services, such as personalised guest experiences, while benefiting from advanced technology and global reach. Partnership with digital platforms helps small businesses solve one of their biggest headaches – customer acquisition – in a risk-free way without the need for upfront investment. This synergy between small businesses and large tech platforms is exactly what Prof. Mario Draghi championed in his landmark report – and what independent research from McKinsey also underscores.

EU-wide funding streams such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility and Cohesion Funds have opened up possibilities for digital and green investment, and we know that tourism can be part of the solution to our continent’s economic woes. Cities like Paris, Vienna, and Copenhagen are experimenting and pioneering smart, sustainable tourism. The next step is to treat the travel sector not as an afterthought but as a strategic industry.

Europe’s policy focus must sharpen around three imperatives: upskilling the tourism workforce, accelerating the diffusion of digital technologies, and supporting the SMEs that shape the tapestry of the European travel ecosystem. This doesn’t mean picking winners or sidelining open digital platforms – it means making sure the tools of modern competitiveness are accessible to all, not just the largest hospitality brands with global name recognition.

In rural and coastal regions, tourism is often the mainstay of the local economy. But it also plays a strategic role in Europe’s soft power – shaping perceptions, building intercultural ties, and projecting values. No industrial policy or forward-looking vision is complete without factoring in what travel can do not just for GDP, but for identity and resilience.

The European Accommodation Barometer 2025 makes one thing clear: Europe’s travel sector is not coasting. It’s evolving, professionalising, and investing for the long term. Now the question is whether public policy will keep up.

L’article Europe’s underrated superpower: how travel industry drives economic competitiveness est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.