We recently compiled a report on the 12 Countries with the Best Architecture in Europe and in this article we will look at the country that topped our list.
An Overview of Europe’s Architecture Market
Construction and architecture markets are proponents of growth for the European economy. The sector provides approximately 18 million direct jobs and contributes around 9% to the GDP of the European Union. According to the Architects’ Council of Europe, the overall construction market of Europe was valued at $13.37 trillion in 2022. The developed economies of the region including Germany, France, and the UK are the main contributors to the market and contributed approximately $1.23 trillion during the same year. Growth in the market was driven by low energy prices, reduced supply constraints, a strong labor market, and improved business across the region. Within the construction market, the architecture segment is one of the fastest-growing segments and contributes around $22.45 billion in value. The architecture market has grown by 23% since 2020 and comprises 56% of private housing work and 62% of building design work.
Although the prospects for the architecture market have improved since 2020, the architect’s sentiment on the future of work remains gloomy. Architects’ Council of Europe forecasted the workload to fall by 10% across the region during 2023. The lack of confidence was mainly due to the subsiding property sector of Europe. On April 25, Reuters reported that real estate deals fell the greatest during Q1 of 2024 since the global pandemic, according to the data, property deals worth more than $5.4 million were terminated and the total property sales of European commercial property decreased by 26% compared to 2023. Both the buyer’s and seller’s price expectations have diverged and await cuts in interest rates. If you want to read more about countries with the best architecture, you can look at the 20 Countries With The Best Architecture.
Performance of Architecture as a Profession
The number of architects in the region has grown by 100,000 during the past 10 years and Europe had approximately 620,000 architects in 2022. Countries including Italy, Turkey, and Germany lead in the profession as more than half of the architects originate from these countries. The profession has seen steady improvement since the pandemic, the salaries for architects in Europe have gone up by 6% since 2020, unemployment in the profession was recorded at 2% in 2022, down from 7% in 2020, and around 86% architects have resumed full-time work. Moreover, during the past 10 years gender parity within the profession has decreased with the number of female architects increasing 10% during the said time. In addition, the gender pay gap decreased by almost half and was recorded at 17% during 2022. You can also look at the 10 Countries with the Best Architecture in Africa and 10 Countries with the Best Architecture in Asia.
European Architecture as a Driver of Tourism
The architecture and culture of Europe is one of the key drivers of tourism in the region. According to the European Commission, cultural tourism accounts for almost 40% of all the tourism in Europe. Moreover, as per the European Travel Commission Report 2023, travel and tourism for the region is witnessing strong demand and is returning to pre-pandemic levels. Approximately 66.6% of the countries are now reporting a full recovery or are within 10% of the pre-pandemic levels. Foreign tourism is also recovering fast and is just 1.6% short of its 2019 performance. Almost 700 million travelers visited Europe in 2023, making around 56% of the total international travel that year.
The current year has been forecasted as a year of recovery for European tourism, as inflation is expected to ease. Southern European travel destinations including Portugal, Montenegro, and Turkey have witnessed the strongest increase in travel and are up by 11%, 10%, and 9% respectively from the 2019 levels.
Companies such as Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) through its technology and API solutions are helping European companies fuel growth in the travel and tourism market of the region. Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) is a leading online travel technology company that powers travel companies through its white label templates, tailor-built solutions, and end-to-end booking lodging systems that allow companies to set up their sites. The company operates in three main segments namely Expedia Brands, Expedia Product Technology, and Expedia for Business.
On December 5, 2023, Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) announced a series of partnerships consisting of advertisement, B2B technology, and distribution deals across Europe. European companies including Ryanair, one of the largest low-cost airlines in Europe, and Icelandair, a flag carrier airline of Iceland are leveraging Expedia’s white label templates to enhance customer experience on their platforms. Ryanair launched Ryanair Rooms, a platform that allows travelers to book a hotel with their flights and gives access to Expedia’s AI customer service tool using the white label templates. On the other hand, Icelandair used the same technology to launch Saga Club, a new traveling site that allows loyal customers to book additional trips along with their flights. Loyal customers of Icelandair can also access Expedia’s supply of hotels, and other related services to enhance their journey. In May 2024, the company reported an 8% increase in the number of passengers it transported during the year, thereby increasing the passenger revenue of Icelandair by 17% YoY.
The advertising and media segment of Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) helps brands and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) reach and convert millions of travelers around the globe through its advertising solutions. Expedia’s revenue increased 8% YoY during the first quarter of 2024 and was mainly led by robust growth in its advertising business, which witnessed the greatest increase in revenue of 20.49%. Some recent European partnerships in this segment of business include Deutsche Hospitality, a German Hotel Chain that will target hundreds of millions of travelers globally through Expedia’s media solutions, and the Croatian National Tourism Board (CNTB), a national tourist organization. A series of targeted, meaningful campaigns of CNTB on Expedia’s platform resulted in a 10% increase in demand from US travelers for Croatia across Expedia media solutions. Other European companies leveraging Expedia’s advertisement campaigns include Iberia Airlines and Turkish Airlines, which experienced a 15% increase in booking volumes as a result of its campaigns on the platform.
Now that we have looked into the architecture market and how it drives tourism in Europe, let’s move forward to the 12 countries with the best architecture in Europe.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 12 countries with the best architecture in Europe, we relied on a consensus methodology. We first shortlisted countries with the best architecture in Europe by sifting through 10 online rankings on the internet and selected countries that appeared in at least 50% of our sources. Next, we ranked them based on the number of tourists that visited the country in 2022, sourced from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). We have hypothesized that a country rich in architecture and culture attracts more tourists. The list is arranged in ascending order of the number of tourists it received in 2022.
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The Country with the Best Architecture in Europe
1. France
Tourist Arrivals (2022): 79.4 million
The French are known for their culinary skills, clothing styles, and a wide variety of art, in addition to all these the French architecture can not be overlooked. France not only holds the Pre-Romanesque religious buildings and the Gothic architecture, but it has also preserved the neoclassical era of French architecture. The Notre Dame de Paris is a classic Gothic style construction and features both naturalistic decoration and revolutionary engineering techniques. Other famous historic buildings people visit include the Arc de Triomphe, a famous monument, the Palace of Versailles, for its rich history, and the Panthéon monument. France ranks as the country with the best architecture in Europe and was visited by around 79.4 million people in 2022.
Curious to learn about other European countries that have high levels of tourist arrivals? Check out our report on the 12 Countries with the Best Architecture in Europe.
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