Tourism, technology and the next phase of growth

Europe can strengthen its next phase of growth by exploiting resilient tourism, participation in AI infrastructure, diversified global corporate exposure and deeper capital markets.

• Europe attracts roughly 50% of worldwide travellers, and overnight visitors are estimated to have risen 16% between 2019 and 2026; two-thirds of European destinations grew faster than the global average.
• Tourism demand is shifting towards safe, affordable and well-connected destinations: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Malta are benefiting from inflows, while northern and mountain destinations are gaining from “coolcations”.
• Europe’s listed companies supply the physical infrastructure required by AI, including data-centre equipment, power connections, cooling systems, specialised machinery, precision components and copper wiring.
• European equities offer broad sector and geographic diversification: around 45% of sales come from developed Europe and only 22% from companies’ home markets; in the latest Q2 earnings season, 31% of companies beat forecasts and upgrades exceeded downgrades by a net 10%.
• Europe has 12 economies in the Global Innovation Index’s top 20 for 2025, including six in the top ten, while initiatives such as the Savings and Investments Union, securitisation-market reform and the Capital Markets Union aim to channel more private savings into productive investment.

Takeaway: Investors can find resilience and potential value in European tourism, equities and investment-financing themes, but the outlook remains exposed to energy-price shocks, political tensions and a global slowdown.