EU Survey: Perception of sustainable tourism and railways

A recent EU survey shows that a large majority of European citizens support promoting train travel as a key step towards making tourism in Europe more sustainable.

As the European Commission prepares an EU Strategy for Sustainable Tourism, the survey findings make a strong case for railways to be included in policymakers’ plans.

Commissioned by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and carried out by Polling Europe, the interviews were conducted between 3 and 10 July 2026, on a representative sample of 5,048 adults aged 18 and over across the 27 EU Member States. Sampling was proportionally distributed according to national populations, age and gender quotas were applied in each country based on the latest Eurostat data to ensure demographic representativeness.

Survey highlights:

• When asked about the importance of promoting train travel to make tourism in Europe more sustainable, 74% of citizens agreed that travelling by train is key to greater sustainability in tourism in Europe.
• Regarding the factors influencing the choice of transport mode for tourism purposes, either within an EU country or to neighbouring EU countries, citizens were presented with five options. Total travel cost, comfort during the journey and total travel time were identified as their top three priorities. Environmental impact ranked fourth, while the booking process was the least important factor influencing travellers’ choice of transport mode.
• When asked about the likelihood of using trains for tourism within their own country or to neighbouring EU countries, 2 in 3 Europeans said they would choose train travel for tourism if more connections were available.

Find the full findings below.