Interview with Vanguelis Panayotis, CEO, MKG Consulting & Hospitality ON

Looking back at the summer season, how did Europe's tourism and hospitality sector perform in terms of demand and occupancy? Which destinations or market segments proved particularly resilient, and where did performance fall short of expectations?

The season is shaping up positively across Europe overall, despite a summer that was unusual in every respect. Against a backdrop of geopolitical instability, international travellers favoured the European continent, with Southern Europe the main beneficiary. Spain continues to widen the gap with its neighbours, surpassing 82% occupancy in both June and July; Germany has returned to growth; while Italy is losing ground. France remains, alongside Spain, one of the two main engines of European tourism: in June, occupancy already stood at nearly eight rooms in ten, and July confirmed this trend, even as it was the hottest month ever recorded in the country. 

What stands out most to me at the French level is the emergence of new, resilient destinations. Brittany, the Northern Alps and the Channel coastline have almost become the new Côte d'Azur of the summer season, with record footfall according to MKG data. 

To what extent did extreme heat, wildfires and other climate-related disruptions influence booking behaviour and tourism flows during the summer? Are you seeing signs of a more structural shift in when and where people choose to travel in Europe?

There have been a lot of paradoxes this year. Summer 2026 was the hottest ever recorded in Europe, and yet tourism footfall continued to grow across the continent. We did not observe a massive wave of last-minute cancellations toward cooler destinations, contrary to what one might have expected. That said, there is a genuine structural shift underway in how people choose destinations. This is what's known as "coolcationing," the preference for temperate climates over an overwhelming heatwave while on holiday, and it explains the record footfall along the Channel coast and in lower-altitude mountain areas. 

Wildfires had a more immediate, localised impact: the Gironde region, for instance, underperformed significantly following the late-July fires, losing ten occupancy points overnight at the height of the season. 

Another strong signal we're keeping a close eye on: air conditioning is becoming a near non-negotiable booking criterion, even among European travellers who weren't previously accustomed to it. Searches including this criterion have jumped by 50% in recent weeks. 

We're also seeing a broader spreading of the calendar across Europe, with part of demand shifting toward June and September, driven by both climate and budget considerations.

Despite generally resilient tourism demand, many hospitality businesses continue to face high labour, energy and food costs, alongside geopolitical uncertainty. What did the summer 2026 season reveal about the sector's ability to protect profitability, and what should businesses and policymakers take away from it?

We're clearly looking at a two-speed hospitality sector. On one side, the upscale and luxury segments are performing very well, driven by international clientele for whom spending remains discretionary. On the other, for the average consumer, purchasing power is forcing real trade-offs: shorter, closer trips, and a greater reliance on rental accommodation or outdoor hospitality rather than traditional hotels. 

Europeans, and French travellers in particular, have ring-fenced their holidays, it's become almost non-negotiable, but they've cut back everywhere else. What the MKG figures show is profitability that remains broadly preserved in absolute terms, but an increasingly narrow margin for operators, caught between high operating costs and a clientele that is more hesitant about late bookings. 

My conviction is that this season confirms the need for industry players to invest in diversification, both of destinations and of travel periods, to cushion against future climate and economic shocks. This is a collective effort that deserves to be taken seriously starting now.