Global ‘BEACH’ stocks soar, as European travel firms cruise ahead of US peers in 2025

Global ‘BEACH’ stocks soar with up to 4x the gains of regional indices, as European travel firms cruise ahead of US peers in 2025

• Baskets of European and US travel stocks both gained 26% over the past year, more than 4x the STOXX 600’s returns and double the S&P 500 respectively
• US travel stocks falling behind since the start of 2025, down 3% while European travel stocks are up 9%
• European airlines including Ryanair and Lufthansa rally, while hotels on both sides of the pond struggle

With the summer holidays fast approaching, research by trading and investing platform eToro shows that global ‘BEACH’ stocks have significantly outperformed the market in the past 12 months. Yet while European firms are riding the seasonal travel rebound, their US counterparts may have missed the flight.

eToro created two baskets of fifteen ‘BEACH’ stocks (companies in bookings, entertainment, airlines, cruises, and hotels) from the US and Europe respectively, and found that the European basket delivered 26% returns over the past 12 months, four times higher than the STOXX 600 which rose 6%. In the same period, the US basket also outperformed the S&P 500, up 26% while the index rose 12%.

Despite significant volatility in the markets, the European basket climbed 9% year-to-date, in step with the STOXX 600. However, the story has taken a different route in the US, where the US basket slumped by 3%, while the S&P 500 has risen 2% since the start of the year.

Lale Akoner, Global Market Analyst at eToro, said: “The gap between European and US travel stocks to date in 2025 reflects both cyclical forces and company-level execution. In Europe, falling interest rates and easing inflation are boosting consumer confidence and discretionary travel spending. Meanwhile, US consumers are still contending with high interest rates and persistent inflation. Adding to these pressures, tariff disputes are fuelling economic uncertainty and dampening expectations for international travel demand, particularly on long-haul routes.”

European airlines such as Ryanair (+28%) and Lufthansa (+18%) have performed especially well in 2025 so far, a stark contrast to American airlines like United (-14%) and Delta (-15%) which are among some of the worst US performers. The only outlier is Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air, whose share price tumbled last week as plane groundings hit its profits. Hotel stocks, however, are struggling on both sides of the pond, as Hyatt (-15%), Las Vegas Sands (-18%), IHG (-13%) and Melia (-2%) have all posted share price losses year-to-date.

The top performer in the European basket is hotel search platform Trivago which popped 96% year-to-date, spurred by a rally since early February when the company announced year-on-year revenue growth for the first time since Q1 2023. Royal Caribbean leads the US basket with 19% growth. In April, the cruise line operator lifted its annual profit outlook based on strong bookings and lower fuel costs. Diversified across regions and services, travel tech firm Booking Holdings also performed better than most of its domestically focused peers in the US basket, up 12% year-to-date.

Lale Akoner added: “European carriers are benefitting from strong short-distance leisure travel demand, lean cost structures, and supportive monetary policy. Many European airlines kept capacity tight and costs low post-pandemic, enabling them to expand profitably as demand rebounded. In contrast, US airlines are facing a more challenging domestic environment. Sticky inflation and higher interest rates are weighing on consumer budgets, while airlines are being hit by rising labour costs due to union negotiations and staffing shortages.”

“Meanwhile, in both the US and Europe, the hotel sector’s margins are being squeezed by elevated labour and operating costs, flat room rates, and a sluggish recovery in business travel. Consumers are still traveling, but to closer destinations and many are trading down on accommodation, putting further pressure on full-service and upscale hotel chains.”

Table 1: Performance of US and European ‘BEACH’ stocks (companies in bookings, entertainment, airlines, cruises, and hotels)

Data from Refinitiv (10/06/2025). Past performance is not an indication of future results.

*Airbnb went public in December 2020.

Table 2: Performance of US and European ‘BEACH’ stock baskets

Data from Refinitiv (10/06/2025). Past performance is not an indication of future results.

About the data

eToro’s BEACH stock baskets are two equal-weight baskets constructed with 15 US-based and 15 Europe-based companies in the travel and hospitality sector. Data from Refinitv, taken on 10/06/2025.