It makes me proud and happy to say that Americans are traveling to Europe this summer in huge numbers despite a bad year for terror attacks and threats. Back in March I wrote about why I am not scared to travel to Europe and apparently other people agreed with me! This makes me happy not because the lines will be longer at attractions in Europe of course, but because it shows the terrorists that we are not scared of them and their plan will not succeed. In fact, next week I head to France for nearly 2 weeks to attend the French Open final and several European Cup soccer matches-I cannot wait! Now that I know that Americans are traveling to Europe this summer in huge numbers-I hope to see many at the games!

Here’s the press release, data and how it was compiled by Allianz Travel Insurance. But first, one thing I noticed is that the 2 hub cities in Ireland; Dublin and Shannon, had very large increases. This is clearly due to Aer Lingus having lower fares than other airlines as nobody goes to Shannon as a destination; much like Frankfurt as a Lufthansa hub.

American travelers visiting Europe this summer are avoiding cities affected by acts of terror and are rerouting vacation plans to destinations recently left unscathed, according to an analysis of flight bookings by leading travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance.

Allianz Global Assistance reviewed more than 500,000 Americans’ travel plans during the summer vacation season from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and found the number of travelers booked to visit Istanbul are down by 43.7 percent in 2016 compared to the same period last year, while the number of travelers visiting Brussels are down 30.4 percent. Neighboring Germany saw travelers from the U.S. to Frankfurt down by 22.9 percent. Paris, meanwhile, was more resilient with a 0.6 percent increase in summer visitors from the U.S., helping it maintain its spot as the second-most visited city in Europe by American travelers behind London.

While some major cities saw a significant decrease in U.S. travelers visiting during the upcoming summer, Europe as a whole recorded an overall 9.3 percent increase to 515,676 travelers in 2016 compared to 471,823 in 2015.

The cities that benefited most from the redistribution of American travelers still interested in visiting Europe include: Dublin and Shannon, in Ireland, increased by 42.8 and 46.5 percent respectively; Athens, Greece, increased by 42.7 percent; Lisbon, Portugal, increased by 42.3 percent, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, increased by 34.5 percent.

“What we’re seeing is that Americans are still bullish on Europe, and travel to the continent is going to be resilient as tourists seek safety in traditionally popular destinations like London and Rome, as well as increasingly popular cities like Dublin, Amsterdam and Lisbon,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “We’re pleased to see that summer travel to Europe will still be strong despite recent acts of terror on European soil. We’re seeing many travelers purchasing 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.”

I agree with Dan as this is a big reason why you need travel insurance but that aside, I am just glad that Americans are traveling to Europe this summer in high numbers and I hope that trend continues for years to come!

Disclaimer: I work as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receive financial compensation.

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