Southern Europe and North America lead global travel demand growth for summer 2026 | News
Destinations in Southern Europe, particularly Greece, Spain and Italy, will experience a significant increase in international demand during the Northern Hemisphere summer season, capturing 11.71% of global international travel intent between June and August 2026, an increase of +2.47 percentage points compared to the same period last year, according to new analysis from The Data Appeal Company / Almaviva Group.
The insights, based on the data intelligence of Data Appeal Mabrian, the company’s Tourism & Destinations division, provide in-depth analysis of international travel intent performance using the Share of Searches Index* for June, July and August 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
“Summer travel intent data shows that as air connectivity and flight corridors are disrupted by diversions, higher costs and geopolitical uncertainty, demand for long-haul flights is naturally reorganizing towards destinations that feel closer, more familiar and more accessible,” explains Carlos Cendra, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Data Appeal.
According to Cendra, this helps explain “the positive outlook for increasingly high-travel destinations, particularly in Southern Europe, as well as the resilience of the Asian regions,” despite the decline in overall demand for East and West Asia, which continues to be supported by substantial intercontinental and regional travel flows.
The analysis reveals five important trends:
Trend No. 1: Southern Europe leads the growth in summer travel intentions
Data shows that Southern Europe will perform best during the summer season, with an 11.71% share of global international travel intent for summer 2026 – an increase of +2.47 percentage points year-on-year, representing a very significant increase in international demand compared to summer 2025. Demand is growing in many Mediterranean and nearby leisure destinations, particularly Greece, Spain and Italy, supported by strong air connectivity and the continued appeal of sun and sea holidays; a trend that is in line with the vision identified by Data Appeal Mabrian in the aftermath of the war in Iran.
Athens leads the pack in Southern European destinations, accounting for 0.77% of global travel intent and gaining a significant +0.23 percentage points year-on-year – the largest increase recorded by any destination in the region – reflecting Athens’ dual role as a city destination and gateway to the Greek islands. Barcelona (1.01%, +0.22 pp year-on-year), Rome (0.85%, +0.09 pp), Madrid (0.91%, +0.14 pp) and Milan (0.76%, +0.10 pp) also strengthen their positions, underlining the strong performance of Spanish and Italian destinations.
Trend #2: North America maintains strong summer demand
The data also highlights North America’s momentum into summer 2026. The region will account for 8.36% of global international travel intent in summer 2026, growing significantly at +1.01 percentage points year-over-year. Performance is supported in part by demand from FIFA host cities, particularly through major U.S. gateways such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Orlando, as well as other high-volume routes serving the East Coast, West Coast and Southern United States. Canada is also showing strong momentum outside of tournament-related demand, with Vancouver (0.60%, +0.11 pp) or Calgary (0.35%, +0.09 pp) being the biggest growers among Canadian destinations.
Trend #3: Asia is managing the impact of political headwinds on travel intent
East Asia remains the region accounting for the largest share of international travel demand for summer 2026 (14.41%), followed by Southeast Asia (13.58%). This means that more than one in four international travelers will choose destinations in these two regions in the summer of 2026. However, in East Asia, demand decreases significantly, by -1.67 percentage points, compared to the same season in 2025.
West Asia is also losing ground in summer 2026, recording a very significant decline of -2.69 percentage points in international market share compared to summer 2025, as geopolitical uncertainty continues to weigh on global demand. Nevertheless, intra-regional travel, demand from Gulf markets and the strong summer appeal of destinations such as Türkiye, Cyprus and Georgia are helping the region to soften the impact of ongoing uncertainty, allowing the country to retain 10.71% of global travel intent.
Despite the slowdown experienced by East and West Asia in summer 2026, international travel intent to Southeast Asia remains positive, with a small increase of +0.55 percentage points compared to summer 2025. Bali is leading travel intent in the region this summer, capturing 1.38% of the global market share (+0.32 percentage points year-on-year), followed by Manila (1.12%, +0.16 pp) and Jakarta (0.77%, +0.11pp). At the same time, Vietnamese destinations including Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc and Ho Chi Minh City, in addition to Mactan-Cebu (Philippines) and Koh Samui (Thailand), are all gaining market share, highlighting the breadth of demand in the region.
Trend #4: Latin America and Africa benefit from changing global demand
The performance of the Share of Searches Index also points to a broader redistribution of international travel intent during the summer season, benefiting destinations in Africa and Latin America. Africa accounts for 4.28% of global international travel intent and is up slightly compared to summer 2025. Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean are responsible for 3.38% of international travel intent in summer 2026, up +0.72 percentage points year-on-year and are among the regions with the strongest increase in travel demand this season, as forecast by Data Appeal Mabrian in the early analysis conducted in the weeks after the start of the war in Iran. Within Latin America, Peru, Brazil and Mexico are leading demand growth, while Puerto Rico, Aruba and Guatemala are demonstrating the breadth of growth in the urban, sun and beach and culture-related travel segments.
Trend #5: Coolcations strengthen the summer appeal of Northern Europe
International travel intent to European destinations also indicates growing interest beyond traditional sun and sea holidays, especially for urban, cultural and nature-based alternatives to destinations with peak summer temperatures. Between June and August 2026, Northern Europe will account for 5.96% of global international travel demand, gaining a modest +0.60 percentage points in travel intent year-on-year. London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Copenhagen and Iceland are all seeing record increases in global travel intent, reinforcing the continued strength of the coolcation trend identified by Data Appeal in summer 2026.
* Share of Searches Index: This is a proprietary index that reflects the strength of demand for travel to a destination based on global flight search behavior. The performance of the Share of Searches Index is assessed using a three-point scale for increase or decrease (small, moderate, significant) based on the magnitude of the percentage variations and their relative impact on the overall index value. For a detailed explanation of the Share of Searches Index methodology, visit: https://mabrian.com/blog/share-of-searches-index/
