Contiki’s Western Europe Tours Are Popular But Eastern Europe Is on the Rise
Photo Credit: Contiki has seen a rise in bookings for Eastern European tour itineraries. Pictured is a Contiki tour to Greece and Turkey. Flickr / mikekanyo
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Contiki doesn't think millennials, which tend to be an open-minded demographic, are too concerned about sporadic terrorism incidents in Europe but we'll let the data speak for itself later this year.
Contiki, a 55-year-old tour operator, is seeing new interest in regions such as Eastern Europe and continued strong demand in Western Europe.
That's the assessment of Casper Urhammer, the company's CEO. The tour operator led 2,500 departures for 18 to 35-year-old travelers in 2016 in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and the U.S.
Urhammer argues that terrorism has not caused its European business to suffer during the past two years.
And, Melissa da Silva, Contiki's president, thinks bragging rights may be part of the reason that younger travelers are looking more keenly at Eastern Europe.
Social media, perhaps more than terrorism, also increasingly influences where millennials travel. "And I think that's why Eastern Europe is probably more up and coming because everybody's done Paris, right?" said da Silva. "I think they're looking at going to these new places, obviously they're not new, but they want to go where their friends maybe haven't been and showing the
