Here are the top three travel trends that caught our eye this week:

European beach holidays cheaper than staycations

According to research conducted by beach holiday specialist On the Beach, travelling to many popular European beach destinations can be cheaper than staying in the UK. The findings show that throughout August, in seven out of 10 cases, European getaways could be lighter on the wallet than staycations: for instance, a family of four from Scotland could be paying an average of £1,939 for a trip to Torquay in Devon, while a week in Torremolinos, Spain, would cost them an average of £1,091 — or £858 less.

https://www.onthebeach.co.uk/vacation-vs-staycation

London named top meeting destination

Cvent, a meetings, events and hospitality technology provider, has released its annual list of the top business meeting destinations worldwide. For the fifth consecutive year, London was named the top business destination in Europe, followed by Berlin and Barcelona. Three other UK cities — Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh — featured among the top 25 destinations, while Leeds, Liverpool and Reading also moved up the rankings.

https://www.cvent.com/en/press-release/cvent-unveils-lists-top-meeting-destinations-worldwide-2019

International tourist arrivals to Europe to grow in 2019

The latest quarterly report, European Tourism – Trends & Prospects 2019, by the European Travel Commission has revealed that demand for tourism in Europe is expected to maintain an upwards trajectory in 2019. Virtually all reporting destinations registered significant increases in tourist arrivals early in the year, with the Balkan region being the top performer: Montenegro was the fastest growing country for which data are available, aided by new capacity and connectivity.

https://etc-corporate.org/reports/european-tourism-2019-trends-prospects-q2-2019/