Travelers were wary to head to Western Europe in 2016, which includes the picturesque cities of France and the United Kingdom. One reason is due to the impending refugee crisis that Western Europe is poorly handling. Another reason is the impending populist sentiments in the country. Three other reasons make it difficult for Western Europe to appraise its tourism economy.
European Tourism Futures Institute's speculations on West Europe's poor travel economy performance last year cite terrorism as a huge factor. According to Xinhua News -- citing the statements of ETFI Researcher Peter Singleton during the ETFI's tourism fair in The Netherlands -- terrorism affects a country's geopolitical instability effectively. The terrorist attacks in France affected the country's tourism directly with a 3 percent drop for 2016.
Singleton also said the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian civil war is also to blame. Many European countries are currently struggling to process asylum applications from refugees coming from war-torn countries including Libya, Sudan and millions from Syria. Terrorist groups have once announced they would be sending in "sleeper" agents who would assume the roles of refugees -- creating caution among European governments and travelers.
According to Skift, data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the 46 million tourists who travelled for single-day vacations did not visit Berlin, Brussels or France. Populist ideas -- many of which are urging xenophobia and racism -- are "scaring away" tourists planning to travel to Europe. European populism is on the rise beginning with the UK's "Brexit" and the growing anti-foreign sentiments in other countries in Western Europe.
The rising value of the Euro has weakened many currencies worldwide. The expensive currency has inflated the value of many goods and services in Europe, limiting the experience for travelers and forcing entire traveling families to change their itineraries from Europe to Asia or other countries.
European crime rates have also increased from pick-pocketing groups to organized criminal organizations in urban areas of Western Europe. While European governments have improved tourist security, the number of tourists falling victim to pick-pockets to hold-ups have continued to increase.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
