After Paris, France’s other host cities are seeing a phenomenal surge in interest with forward bookings running up to 399% ahead.
Flight bookings for the UEFA Euro 2016 championship in France in June and July are being snapped up, according to the latest analysis from ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analysing 14 million reservation transactions each day.
The data shows significant peaks in advance bookings from the Group Matches onwards. Compared with the same period last year, advance bookings from the countries competing in the tournament are up 31% when the Group Matches are being played, from 10th to 22nd June. For the knock-out stage they are already 10% ahead of where they were at the same time last year and for the Quarter Finals they are 8% ahead.
Forward Bookings to France During the Euro 2016 Period
First-time participants in the championship are showing the biggest increase in flight bookings. Northern Ireland is up 185%, Albania up 161% and Iceland up 146%. Countries with the biggest market share of forward bookings to France are also seeing an increase – most notably Germany up 18%, England up 28% and Sweden up 79%.
Uplift in Forward bookings by Country of Origin
Paris will welcome the majority of fans, with the ForwardKeys data showing the capital receiving 77% of forward bookings. In terms of impact, France’s other host cities are seeing a phenomenal surge in interest with forward bookings running 399% ahead for Lille, 92% ahead for Marseille, 91% ahead for Bordeaux, 73% ahead for Lyon, 56% ahead for Toulouse and 22% ahead for Nice.
Looking specifically at Paris, the Group Match period, from 10-22 June, there is an increase of 29% in forward bookings from countries playing in the Paris and St Denis games. Olivier Jager, Co-founder and CEO of ForwardKeys said: “This increase is because match tickets have been on sale for a while and fans have been able to plan their trips well in advance.”
