A Year After an Paris Attacks, Are Americans Traveling to Europe?

A year after the horrific Paris attacks last November 13, American travelers are apparently still hesitant to visit European destinations hit by terrorism. Most notably, research conducted by Allianz Global Assistance has revealed that winter travel to the City of Light is down 12.8% compared to a similar period in 2015.

According to Allianz's findings, Brussels and Istanbul—both of which have seen lives lost on their soil in major terrorist events—are also seeing lower numbers of American visitors this winter. Brussels is seeing a drop of 19.6%, while Istanbul visitation has plummeted by 60.2%.

Despite the implications of these figures, however, Americans are still traveling to Europe as much as they ever have—just to a slightly modified list of destination cities. American travel to Europe in 2016, says Allianz, is in fact up 3.01% over last year's tally. London has retained its position as the most-visited European city (by Americans), but a number of other cities appear to have benefitted from the redistribution of American interest. Most prominently: Amsterdam, Netherlands, (up 30.8%); Lisbon, Portugal ( up 29%); Venice, Italy (up 19.6%); Vienna, Austria (up 17.5%); Munich, Germany ( up 16.5%); and Budapest, Hungary (up 16.1%).

Here's a more complete grouping of Allianz's findings:

American travel to Europe in 2016, by city (Credit: Allianz Global Assistance)

"While it's clear that concerns over terrorism have impacted travel to some cities in Europe, it's encouraging to see that American travelers have opted to explore new destinations across the Continent," said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. "We're also noticing that travelers are considering the purchase of travel insurance so that they have the option to cancel or interrupt their trip should there be a terrorist event at their destination within 30 days of their arrival."

Disclaimer: Johnny Jet works as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receives financial compensation.

---

For more information about Allianz Global, visit AllianzTravelInsurance.com.