# Booking.com Generated €691 Billion for Europe's Economy in 2025

**Publisher:** Booking.com  
**Published:** 2026-06-18  
**Category:** Travel tech  
**Type:** Report  
**Access:** Free PDF  
**Official source:** https://news.booking.com/travel-powered-by-bookingcom-supported-691-billion-in-economic-activity-across-europe-in-2025/  
**Canonical:** https://tourismintel.ai/reports/booking-com-generated-691-billion-for-europes-economy

## At a glance
- Travel booked via Booking.com generated €691 billion in total economic output across Europe in 2025, equivalent to Belgium's GDP.
- Direct visitor spending totalled €291 billion, with 44% spent on hospitality by international visitors and 42% by domestic travellers.
- Platform-linked activity supported 4.7 million jobs and €175 billion in wages across the European economy.
- Retail sector recorded highest GDP contribution at €78 billion (23% of total), followed by accommodation and food services at €71 billion.
- Cross-border economic spillovers reached €94 billion in output, demonstrating deep integration of European tourism economies.

## What the report covers
Oxford Economics conducted an input-output economic impact analysis of Booking.com's contribution to Europe's 29-country economy in 2025. The research traces direct visitor spending through indirect supply-chain effects and induced wage spending to quantify total economic output, GDP, employment, wages, and tax revenue. The analysis was commissioned by Booking.com and launched at VivaTech 2026 in Paris.

## Key findings
Travel booked through Booking.com generated €691 billion in total economic output across Europe in 2025. This comprised €291 billion in direct visitor spending, €187 billion in indirect business sales as tourism firms purchased supplies, €118 billion in induced spending from wages, and €94 billion in cross-border trade effects. The €691 billion figure is comparable to Belgium's GDP, the seventh largest in the EU.

Visitor spending translated to approximately €344 billion in total GDP added to the European economy. Direct GDP impact reached €152 billion from immediate hospitality and tourism expenditure. Indirect impacts contributed €88 billion as businesses purchased goods and services from suppliers. Induced impacts added €63 billion as employees spent wages locally. Trade effects generated a further €41 billion through cross-border economic flows.

International and domestic visitors displayed distinct spending patterns. International travellers allocated 44% of expenditure to hospitality, 20% to retail, 12% to transport, and 10% to entertainment. Domestic visitors spent 42% on hospitality, but prioritised entertainment (19%), transport (16%), and other services over retail (6%), indicating different trip motivations and behaviour.

Employment and wage impacts were substantial. The platform supported 4.7 million jobs across Europe, with €175 billion in total associated wages. Direct employment reached 2.5 million jobs, predominantly in accommodation and food services (47% of direct jobs). A further 1.8 million jobs were sustained through supply-chain and wage-spending effects, with approximately 0.5 million jobs supported outside the country where initial spending occurred.

Public finances benefited significantly from platform-linked travel. Total fiscal contribution reached €137 billion, comprising €80 billion in direct taxes, €33 billion in indirect tax revenues, €14 billion in induced taxes, and €10 billion in taxes from cross-border trade flows. This demonstrates tourism's substantial contribution to government revenues across the 29 European countries studied.

## Key numbers
| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Total economic output linked to Booking.com | €691 billion | Europe (29 countries), 2025, observed; comprises direct spending, indirect, induced, and trade effects |
| Direct visitor spending | €291 billion | International and domestic travellers, 2025, observed |
| Total GDP contribution | €344 billion | Direct, indirect, induced, and trade impacts combined, 2025, observed |
| Jobs supported | 4.7 million | Europe-wide, 2025; includes 0.5 million in countries outside origin spending location |
| Total wages supported | €175 billion | Across all employment supported by Booking.com activity, 2025, observed |
| Total tax revenue generated | €137 billion | Direct, indirect, induced, and trade-flow taxes combined, 2025, observed |
| Cross-border economic spillovers | €94 billion | Output generated outside the country where initial spending occurred, 2025, observed |
| Retail sector GDP contribution | €78 billion | Highest sectoral contribution at 23% of total GDP impact, 2025, observed |

## Why it matters
**DMOs & destinations** — The report quantifies tourism's cascading economic benefits across accommodation, retail, transport, and entertainment sectors. DMOs can leverage these findings to justify investment in destination marketing and infrastructure, demonstrating how digital platforms amplify visitor spending and create employment at regional and local scales across Europe.

**Hotels & hospitality** — Hospitality and food services account for 47% of direct employment and €71 billion in GDP contribution, making them central to platform-driven economic activity. Hotels and independent accommodation providers can benchmark their sector's importance and emphasise how digital distribution enables access to global demand, supporting competitive positioning and growth strategies.

**Travel tech & distribution** — The research demonstrates that digital platforms generate €400 billion in indirect, induced, and trade effects beyond the initial €291 billion in direct spending. Travel-tech operators can use these multiplier insights to showcase value creation to stakeholders and justify investments in technology infrastructure that enables SMEs and independent businesses to access global markets.

## Methodology and limits
Oxford Economics conducted an input-output economic impact analysis using a three-level framework: direct impacts from visitor spending, indirect impacts from supply-chain purchases, and induced impacts from wage spending in the local economy. The model maps spending flows across 29 European countries and captures cross-border trade effects. The analysis is based on Booking.com transaction data and tourism spending patterns. Figures represent observed 2025 activity, not forecasts or survey estimates.

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© Booking.com for the original report. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel (https://tourismintel.ai). Read the original: https://news.booking.com/travel-powered-by-bookingcom-supported-691-billion-in-economic-activity-across-europe-in-2025/