Spice Up your Christmas Plans with a Visit to these European Countries

The most strongly trending EU destination this Christmas is Helsinki, with 29.6% growth in flight bookings over the period 15th December 2019 - 15th January 2020. These visitors are long-haul visitors, according to new research by ForwardKeys,a travel analytics firm that analyzes 17 million flight bookings and 7 million flight searches per day. It is followed by Budapest with 29.3% and Bucharest with 28.4%.

Lisbon follows with 27.7%, followed by Porto with 26.5%, Athens ahead by 22%, followed by Copenhagen with 18.5%, Madrid with 18.3%, Prague with 16.5%, and Amsterdam with 14.4%.

The percentage last year of Christmas bookings to EU countries from outside the Union are 11.0% ahead. However, some destinations are exemptions. Stockholm and Venice, are behind by 23.1 percent and 6.5 percent.

The findings are likely to be welcome news for stores located in the most popular malls and shopping streets across the EU.

There is no surprise that Helsinki is the top trending destination in the list because there is great growth in festive forward bookings from China and Japan. Increase in visitors from routes in New York and Tel Aviv contributed massively to the increase in Budapest’s bookings. Bucharest's boom is due to notable general increase in capacity over the last 2 years.

According to Jérôme Goldberg, Global Retail & Travel Retail Director of ForwardKeys, "Travel to EU countries over the Christmas period is currently well ahead, which is encouraging news for retailers. Our data does not only show the relative attractiveness of different cities, we can also analyse visitor profiles and arrival peaks and troughs. The high spots for an influx of visitors are just before Christmas on 21^st December and just after it on 27^th December. However, there are some critical nuances; for example, the Chinese market peaks on the earlier date, the US market on the latter date. Therefore, retailers who do good business with tourists might want to bear this in mind when considering things like the optimal timing and geo-targeting of marketing campaigns and the language profile of frontline staff on certain key dates."

How are Christmas celebrated in the 3 destinations?

1. Helsinki, Finland

Discover the calm and peaceful side of Helsinki during the cold temperatures. Unlike the other gregarious cities in the world, the Finnish capital is like an urban retreat that energises and soothes you. Though the realisation that everything is closed on that day can be very daunting, 23rd December is the last day before Christmas when many attractions are open.

2. Budapest, Hungary

Meanwhile, Budapest is a wonderfully festive place to celebrate the Christmas holidays. The Christmas Fair in Budapest takes place on the Vörösmarty Square in the centre of the city which turns into a Winter Market after a short while. The 8th annual Advent Feast at the Basilica is an open-air festive-season market welcoming everyone with international food and delightful gift items.

3. Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest Christmas Market is situated precisely in the city center, right in the central Constitution Square (Piata Constitutiei). The colorful fair brings together farmers, traders, and villagers from all corners of the country to share their traditional products. It comes a scent -- of hot wine with cinnamon.