European City Tourism Monitor 13th edition – Summary

European City Tourism Monitor 13th edition - Summary City Tourism Professionals are still confident of a positive 2012.

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City Tourism Professionals are still confident of a positive 2012

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The  results  of  the  13th European City Tourism Monitor show that  city  tourism professionals participating  in  the survey expect bednights  in  the 2nd quarter of 2012  to increase relative  to  the  same  period  in  2011.  This is also the case for the year of 2012 as a whole, where 69% expect bednights to increase. Compared to the last report which examined expectations for the 1st quarter of 2012, expectations are (with the exception of 2012 as a whole) more positive.

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2nd quarter 2012

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The majority of the experts (52%), expect growth to be of between 1 and 5% in the 2nd quarter compared to the same period last year, whilst 14% believe that bednight volumes will grow more than 5%. 21% believe that the number of bednights will be similar  to  last  year,  and  7%  are  expecting  a slight decrease in total bednights.

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It is particularly international bednights that are expected to grow – with 69% of those interviewed expecting growth in this segment, whilst fewer respondents (41%) expect growth in the domestic markets.

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Expectations for hotel prices for the 2nd quarter also show a tendency towards optimism, with 47% expecting hotel prices to increase further.

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An analysis of the results by source markets for the 2nd quarter of 2012 shows that more than half of the experts (52%) believe that the German market will grow the most. Other markets are expected to grow too, such as the British market – with 43% expecting this market to grow – and the American and French markets – with 38% and 36% respectively believing these markets will grow. However, with the exceptions of the French and the British markets more experts actually believe the markets will stay the same, and between 12% and 17% believe these markets, including the British market, will decrease.

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Compared to earlier surveys, the difference between positive and negative expectations indicates a more optimistic development, as the gap between positive and negative expectation has increased positively.

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Expectations for 2012

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Expectations for the whole of 2012 in terms of total bednights are slightly more positive than expectations for the 2nd quarter of 2012. As many as 69% expect a growth in total bednights in 2012. The majority expect growth of 1 to 5 %. Compared to the results of the last report (Report # 12) this is, however, slightly less. In that  report 73% expected a growth in total bednights for the whole of 2012. Approximately 10% are expecting a decrease in 2012. This is slightly less than the last report where 12% were expecting a decrease.

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The economic situation in Europe and the rest of the world, which returned as a key issue in the previous report, is still believed, and by even more respondents, to be a significant issue that will influence city tourism in 2012, at least in the 2nd quarter. Events and Marketing activities are also cited as important push factors, followed by holidays, exchange rates and growth from international markets.

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For further details on this report, or the project, please contact:
Lone Alletorp Callard (Author of this report)
Wonderful Copenhagen
lac@woco.dk

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