Study: Zurich, Geneva and Madrid are the top luxury destinations for holiday-goers in Europe

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A new 6-factor study can reveal that Zurich, Geneva and Madrid are the top luxury destinations for holiday-goers in Europe. The study conducted by OVO Network considers the number of Michelin star restaurants, luxury spas and 5-star hotels per one million tourists, the safety index and luxury search trends across 37 of Europe’s most popular city-break destinations.

Zurich

The Swiss-German city of Zurich ranked in the top five for three factors. It is revealed to be the safest destination in the study, takes 2nd place for the highest number of luxury spas and comes in 4th for the most Michelin star restaurants per one million tourists.

Geneva

Geneva achieved 2nd place in the study and is the top ranked for the greatest choice of top hotels and

restaurants across all cities. Madrid rounds up the top three and is the “trendier” option for tourists as it has the 5th most luxury related google searches out of all the cities researched and analysed in the study. The Spanish capital came in 5th for its choice of Michelin star restaurants and 6th for luxury spas per one million tourists. Geneva has around1, 150, 000 tourists and with 48 Michelin star restaurants to choose from, that’s 41.7 award winning restaurants per 1 million tourists. Geneva has more

award-winning restaurants per tourist than any city in the study and more than triple the continental average per guest. For some perspective, the average number of Michelin star restaurants per one million tourists is 12 – meaning that Geneva has 247% more than average.

Paris

When it comes to fine dining , Paris has the most Michelin star restaurants at 425 with 19.9 million tourists, making 22.3 award-winning restaurants per one million tourists. But, as the study considers the number of tourists in the cities, it concludes that Geneva,Hamburg and Valencia are top for luxury dining.

Hamburg

Hamburg comes in 2nd with 56 Michelin star restaurants, making it 38.6 luxury cuisine restaurants per one million tourists. 3rd place goes to Valencia, with an astounding 95 award winning restaurants – 31.7 per 1 million tourists.

Barcelona

Barcelona is leading the way in the luxury spa category. The city has 612 luxury spas for tourists to choose from which calculates to 87 four star and above rated spas per one million tourists.

Zurich, Sofia, Berlin and Paris round up the top 5 for luxury spas per tourist. With 73, 53, 50 luxury spas per one million tourists respectively. The research reveals that London has the most 5-star hotels at 225; however, Geneva and Istanbul offer greater visitor choice. Geneva comes in 1st and has 15 luxury hotels, which calculates to 13 5-star hotels per 1 million tourists, that is 200% more than the study average of 5 5-star hotels per 1 million tourists. Istanbul comes in second with 178, making for 12.1 options per 1 million tourists.

The study concludes that London is the trendiest city for luxury getaways, with the most Google searches for luxury holidays, with 2,000 searches. Prague takes a close second with 1,900 searches while Amsterdam rounds up the top three with 1,500.

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