According to a survey by Travel Off Path, the desire for post-Covid-19 “revenge” tourism has caused Europe to become overcrowded. Therefore, not because of social evils or poor quality services, the biggest reason given by the newspaper is the large number of tourists flocking here.
Airfare prices increase
Airfares to Europe are also high, thanks to airlines cutting schedules and canceling flights. A lack of intercontinental flights has pushed ticket prices to record highs. Data from Kayak shows that popular summer routes are now three times more expensive than they were a year ago. International flights between Europe and the US are similarly high.
European airlines canceled twice as many flights as the U.S. between April and June, according to data from RadarBox, a flight tracking company. In June alone, a total of 7,870 flights were canceled in Germany, France, Italy and the U.K.
European tourism is overloaded due to lack of human resources - Photo: CNN.
This figure has increased 3 times compared to the same period in 2019. The highest number of flight cancellations occurred in June - the peak season for European tourism. This makes Europe a "haunted" destination for summer tourists.
"At airports in Europe, you can easily encounter a familiar scenario with long lines waiting to board the plane, airlines working slowly and constantly announcing flight cancellations," quoted from Travel Off Path.
Airport worker strikes also make travel here tiring for tourists.
Human resource crisis
The recovery of air travel has been faster than experts had predicted. This has led to staff being overwhelmed with passengers. They are not able to cope.
Strikes have also complicated the situation. At Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, a daily passenger limit has been imposed due to a lack of security and guards.
According to the European Transport Federation (ETF), workers in the European aviation industry have suffered from low wages for a long time. The shortage of human resources has caused headaches for airlines at all levels, from check-in procedures, security to flight attendants.
Protests across Europe affect tourism - Photo: CNN.
In Germany alone, the country is short of more than 7,000 staff at airports across the country. They plan to hire 1,000 seasonal workers during the peak summer tourist season because they cannot recruit local workers.
"Things may not go back on track until the end of the year," said a representative of Germany's national airline Lufthansa.
Demand far exceeds the capacity of European airlines. Overcrowding is not a new phenomenon on the continent each summer. However, high inflation and staff shortages are causing Europe to experience a "summer crisis".
According to Travel Off-Path, the only thing travelers can do right now is wait for airlines and airports across Europe to stabilize their staff. Until then, they can choose to temporarily avoid the continent and find another tourist destination.
