The European Travel Commission on Thursday published its Long-Haul Travel Barometer 1/2020 which provides the European tourism sector with early indications of interest in travel to Europe among residents of key country markets, based on December 2019 data.

The 1/2020 report finds sentiment re travel to Europe between January and April 2020 to be positive in 6 key markets: Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and the USA.

Sentiment in the Brazilian market increased strongly from 97/100 (slightly negative) in 2019 to 104 in the current period as a result of economic recovery, wage growth, and added air connectivity. Portugal is the #1 European destination cited by respondents in Brazil.

73% of Indian travelers surveyed said they plan to visit Europe January-April 2020. Top destinations cited by Indian respondents were Austria, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Sentiment index for US, Russia and Japan was positive at 103/100. But only 29% of respondents in Russia and the US and 18% of those in Japan said they plan to visit January-April 2020.

Top destinations for respondents in the USA are France, Italy, Germany, the UK and Spain, while for those in Japan they are Germany, Italy, Austria and the UK.

Sentiment in China reached a record 119/100 - but data on China were collected prior to the coronavirus outbreak, and travel bans and suspended air and train services are significantly impacting outbound travel from China.

Most survey respondents said their trips would involve 7 to 14 nights in Europe.