Why European River Cruising?
You don’t need a multitude of statistics to know that Europe is one of the—if not the most visited continent on the planet. The stats, and the popularity of European river cruises, only further supports that belief. According to the European Travel Commission (ETC), international tourism rates in Europe increased by 5 percent in 2015, peaking at 609 million arrivals. That marks the sixth consecutive year that the region has experienced growth in international tourism. In fact, the ETC anticipates another 3.5- to 4.5-percent increase in those numbers for 2016, and river cruises in Europe with Scenic are no exception, as demand for all-inclusive luxury experiences continues to increase every year.
While plenty of travelers will fly to—and stay exclusively at specific metropolitan areas in Europe, and despite the fact that many others will hop from city to city and from country to country via Europe’s vast network of railways, more and more experienced international travelers are recognizing that European river cruises provide a unique and authentic way to be immersed in local culture. After all, the rivers that snake through Europe are the same waterways that were instrumental in shaping and cultivating western civilization.