Emerging destinations in lesser-known regions across Europe—from Northern Italy, Spain, and Portugal to Southern Finland and Poland—are attracting growing interest from overseas travellers, helping to drive both seasonal and geographic dispersion of European tourism. As these alternative destinations increasingly capture overseas demand focused on nature-based experiences, primarily during shoulder seasons, they are contributing to a more balanced distribution of visitor flows, according to new research presented by Mabrian and Data Appeal at the 11th European Travel Commission (ETC) Annual Meeting in Pärnu, Estonia.
This study examines the emerging destinations that six key overseas markets (Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States) are increasingly exploring across European destinations (1), identifying travel patterns that can be leveraged as strategic opportunities for European travel and tourism.
“Our Annual Meeting in Pärnu is about making European tourism future-ready. We’re delighted to welcome Mabrian and Data Appeal to bring the latest intelligence from key overseas markets. These timely insights will help destinations stay competitive and deliver more balanced value—across regions, seasons and stakeholders,,” explains Menno Van IJssel, from European Travel Commission.
As official forecasts from the European Travel Commission and Tourism Economics!, by 2029, over 1 in 10 travellers visiting European destinations will come from any of these six overseas markets featured in this analysis, and half of them will be travelling from the US, as air capacity continues to grow.
During 2025, available air seats in direct flights from these overseas markets to European destinations (2) grew by +5.2%, making them more accessible for long-haul demand. The US, with over 36,4M seats in flights to European destinations, is the best connected overseas market, followed by Canada (8,7M seats) and China (6,8M seats). Air capacity has been reinforced from Asian markets, especially from China and Japan, increased last year by +12.3% and +9.2%, respectively; as well as from Australia (+59.4%), which still has limited seats availability to Europe.
Beyond the Beaten Path: Discovering Europe’s Hidden Alternatives in Iconic Destinations
Following the global demand pattern to Europe, the key overseas markets are also keen to visit the most renowned destinations in regions from Italy (Lazio, Tuscany, Lombardy, Campania, Veneto, and Sicily), Spain (Andalusia and Catalonia), France (Ille de France), and Greece (Attica): in fact these 10 regions represent nearly a third (32.2%) of the total overseas travellers stays in European destinations in 2025.
Interestingly, Mabrian data shows that the destinations experiencing the strongest growth in overseas traveller demand reflect several distinctive trends. First, there is a growing appeal for the North, with regions such as Southern Finland, Vestland in Norway, or northern areas in Spain (Galicia), Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige), France (Normandy and Alsace), and Portugal (North) — offering attractive alternatives to more traditional destinations typically associated with summer holidays and warmer climates.
Another notable trend is the rise of Central European destinations, including areas in Croatia and Poland, alongside the increasing popularity of less crowded coastal destinations in Greece (Ionian Islands) and Türkiye (Marmara Region). Finally, destinations that strongly represent European cultural heritage are also seeing growing interest, such as Central Anatolia in Türkiye and Galway County in Ireland.
All of these emerging destinations share a key characteristic: while culture remains a transversal motivation for overseas travellers, nature and active tourism are the primary drivers behind the choice of these alternatives. In this way, “overseas demand is becoming a powerful engine for diversifying European tourism,” highlights Carlos Cendra, Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian.
Lower seasonality sensitivity to support demand distribution strategies
Analysis of overseas visitors to these emerging European destinations reveals a moderately counter-seasonal travel pattern. These visitors tend to avoid peak months—particularly July, and even more markedly in August—preferring shoulder periods. This trend is especially pronounced among travellers from Asian markets, highlighting opportunities for destination marketing and capacity planning outside the traditional summer peak.
In terms of travel party composition, visitors from the US, Canada, and Australia predominantly travel as couples, reflecting patterns similar to those of European travellers to these destinations. In contrast, solo traveller is a key segment for Asian markets, and accounts for the largest share among Japanese and South Korean visitors, followed by couples, highlighting distinct market-specific travel behaviours. Among Chinese travellers, 16.5% visit these emerging destinations for business, compared with 10.5% of Japanese and 9.4% of South Koreans, indicating that, even though business travel is a relevant segment to consider for these destinations, solo traveller demand extends beyond business-purposed trips.
In terms of hotel category preferences, the largest share of 5-star guests are American (5.7% of the total hotel guests) and Japanese (5.3%). Markets such as Canada, the US, China, and South Korea have a similar share of guests choosing 3 and 4 star hotels, whereas 4-star lodging holds the largest demand share for Australians and Japanese.
“These data clearly highlight the opportunities for both territorial and seasonal tourism dispersion,” notes a Mabrian spokesperson. “To capitalise on overseas demand trends and redistribute visitors beyond Europe’s most frequented destinations and peak months, it is essential that these alternative destinations provide a comprehensive range of tourist products and services, including fully operational accommodations designed to meet the preferences and needs of these long-haul travellers.”
Technical Footnotes
(1) Destinations analysed: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkiye, and Ukraine.
(2) Air capacity from ETC European countries and Türkiye includes only destinations with direct flights from at least one key overseas market in 2025. The following countries are excluded from this assessment because they do not have direct air connections between their destinations and the key overseas market analysed: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.