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European Cities Marketing (ECM), the influential network of leading city tourist offices and convention bureaus, is using the platform presented by ITB to release figures prepared by MODUL Research highlighting last year’s performance of Europe’s resilient and still booming city tourism sector. Based on a sample of 57 European cities, ECM reports an average year-on growth rate of 6.2 % in respect to domestic and international bednights spent in commercial accommodation forms. International bednights increased by some 7.0%.
London, Paris, and Rome remain the three most popular European cities for tourists staying overnight, recording annual bednight levels in excess of 15 million for the 2012 year. Barcelona and Madrid, on the other hand, achieved the highest year-on growth rates, running out an impressive 15% and 11% respectively. At a country level, the US continues to be the single most important source market, followed by Germany, Italy, and the UK. Russia and China showed the highest year-on growth rates of 33% and 22% respectively.
The President of European Cities Marketing, Dieter Hardt-Stremayr, said: “Overall performance in 2011 lends weight to the view that city tourism is the dominant and most dynamic aspect of European tourism. With respect to the key bednights indicator, we can see that last year many cities recorded all-time highs and impressive growth rates. BRIC countries, especially Russia and China, are emerging as important source markets with lots of potential for the future”.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
