by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:57 AM ET, Tue November 8, 2022
New travel data shows that the strong exchange rate of the United States currency has increased demand for holiday vacations to Europe.
According to the Allianz Partners USA 2022 European Holiday Destination Index, London remains the most popular city to visit this holiday season, with demand increasing by 20 percent since 2019.
Paris jumped 13 percent and was the second-ranked city for the holiday season-running between November 23 and January 5-while Madrid rounded out the top three, jumping three percent and moving up from fifth overall in the 2019 index.
Rome and Amsterdam finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
"While inflation has caused the prices of almost everything to soar, travelers have seen the value of the dollar also surge, gain parity with the Euro and the pound, and boost their holiday budgets," Allianz director of external communications Daniel Durazo said.
"Even so, most of us can't afford to lose what we've invested for these big holiday trips, making a travel insurance policy the best gift to add to your holiday shopping list," Durazo continued. "It can provide peace of mind by safeguarding pre-paid travel investments from covered unexpected events like trip cancellations or interruptions, travel delays, baggage issues or even medical emergencies."
As for the cities that saw the biggest increases compared to 2019, Lisbon saw a 173 percent increase, Stockholm jumped 160 percent, Athens climbed 154 percent and Copenhagen increased by 144 percent.
Allianz Partners offers travel insurance through most major U.S. airlines, leading travel agents, online travel agencies, hotel companies, cruise lines and directly to consumers.
Last week, Allianz Global Assistance took home two gold Travvy Awards in 2022 for both Overall Best Travel Insurance Provider and Best Customer Service among travel insurance providers for the seventh year in a row.
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