This central European country is the fastest-growing tourist destination on the continent

The Czech Republic is becoming an increasingly popular country to visit after new data reveals it has the fastest-growing travel bookings in Europe.The central European country stood out as the top destination with the highest growth in bookings between May 2025 and April 2026, with a year-on-year growth of 18 per cent in terms of air travel.Conducted by travel data analysts Amadeus in collaboration with UN Tourism, Iceland came second in the list, with an 11 per cent growth rate, followed by Denmark with eight per cent.

The analysts say this indicates a shift away from traditional tourism powerhouses as more travellers are looking for culturally rich city breaks and nature-led travel.Despite this, Spain still dominates the travel industry in Europe, as the country holds the title as the most booked and most searched destination in Europe.The most booked destinations ranked as Italy in second, followed by France, the UK and Germany.

Despite being the fourth most-booked, the UK was the second most searched-for destination in Europe. Overall, European passenger traffic grew within the year by 2.3 per cent, while hotel occupancy increased by two per cent.

The research also found that most visitors to Europe came from the US. The biggest growing market was tourists from Japan, with a 19 per cent rise in bookings.Across Europe, hotel occupancy peaked at 80 per cent in September 2025, but also kept up a strong consistency in the summer, held at or above 73 per cent from May through October 2025The UK was the most booked-up country on the continent, reaching 87 per cent occupancy in July 2025, with France at 82 per cent in June and Germany at 81 per cent in September.

The data also revealed that search interest has risen exponentially for air travel in countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (both up 64 per cent), Moldova (51 per cent), Slovakia (44 per cent) and Kazakhstan (40 per cent).Read more: The top 10 busiest commuter trains where up to a quarter of people standJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments