Europeans are gearing up for their beloved summer holiday season, and new data from the European Travel Commission shows that they’re prioritising a new trip-planning criterion as a result of the last three years: A lack of crowds.

After pleasant weather and attractive deals, the report finds Europeans say the next most important criteria for choosing a destination on their continent is that it “is not crowded”.

That’s a bump from fourth to third place since the commission’s survey introduced the question “What criteria will play the most important role in choosing your next destination?” in March 2022, after all pandemic entry restrictions were lifted in the EU.

Battling it out for beach umbrellas on Pampelonne Beach in St Tropez or pushing past American holidaymakers on Place du Trocadero in Paris during the busier summer months was too much after time away.

“I think it has to do with the habits we had in the three years of Covid to go off the beaten track and how comfortable and exciting that was to discover new places,” says Luis Araujo, president of the European Travel Commission.

Having more breathing room was important to nearly a third of European travelers – whether considering outdoors trips or city breaks.

One thing that’s gone back to pre-pandemic norms, however, is the desire for value.

More than two-thirds plan to escape in the spring and early summer, before the peak month of August, according to the ETC’s intra-European travel sentiment report, published on April 13. The survey data was collected in March 2023 with participants from 10 major European markets, including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain.

Despite Europeans’ reputation for holidaying for the entire month of August, the data doesn’t typically bear it out – except in 2022, when revenge travel and pent-up demand saw Europeans taking time off throughout the summer, even during that peak month.

Now those numbers have declined by almost one-10th, the ETC report shows, with more than two-thirds of the surveyed population getting ahead of the rush and holidaying as early as the spring and early summer. “We’re going back to the intra-European pattern that we used to have, which is traveling in the mid-season and lower season,” says Araujo.

As for traveling away from throngs of tourists, the ETC believes the trend will keep growing. The commission’s member countries have encouraged this shift by showcasing diverse regions and year-round activities, Araujo explains, and spreading tourists throughout their territories. Consider Denmark’s push for its Rold Forest and Baltic beaches or France’s Loire Valley modern luxury makeover.

Another change in the European summer planning checklist: 7pc of survey respondents say they’re taking extreme weather into consideration.

Of course, this comes on the heels of one of the warmest European winters on record. For the first time, climate change is having an effect on the decision-making process about travel, Araujo says.