Low cost carriers and their influence on European tourism

Low cost carriers are mainly a phenomenon of the new millennium. As a result of the liberalization of the European airline market many new airlines entered the market, especially many low cost carriers. The consumer choice widened and consumers are now able to choose to fly with a network carrier, a charter airline or a low cost carrier to their touristic destination. A fierce competition broke out between the network carriers/charter airlines on one side and low cost carriers on the other. All want to serve the customer. The first group tries to attract the passenger by offering additional services on board, while the second group persuades the passenger with low ticket prices. The general feeling is that many passengers choose the low cost carriers to travel to their destination. It’s thought that low cost carriers have the largest influence on the development of the airline market. Low cost carriers are also supposed to contribute the most to touristic growth. A few scholars have written about this new situation and they’ve tried to find theoretical explanations. In this thesis a statistical analysis is done to see what the influence of the low cost carriers really is on non-resident overnight stays in different European regions.