Europe pulled in 757.3 million international overnight arrivals in 2025 — nearly half the world's total — and visitors spent $835 billion across the continent, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. But for the millions of travellers who need a visa, the trip to Europe starts not at an airport but at a consulate. And that first encounter, argues a new analysis, is where Europe's next competitive edge lies.

The numbers tell an interesting story. EU and Schengen consulates handled more than 12 million short-stay visa applications in 2025, up 4.3% on the previous year, and issued almost 10.3 million visas. Yet that's still well short of the 17 million applications recorded back in 2019. Geopolitics, flight routes and travel budgets all play a part in that gap — but it raises a fair question about whether paperwork is quietly steering some travellers toward easier destinations.

Brussels isn't blind to this. The European Commission's 2026 visa strategy explicitly links tourism growth to more predictable travel: digital applications and longer-validity multiple-entry visas, all without loosening security checks. The prize is significant, with international tourist spending in the EU hitting €515 billion in 2024.

The multiple-entry angle is arguably the most underused tool. In 2025, 5.3 million Schengen visas — just over half of all visas issued — allowed multiple entries. For a traveller with a clean record, a longer-validity visa removes the annual hassle of reapplying, whether they're returning delegates at a conference, a company running meetings across several markets, or a family planning a second summer trip.

The piece also makes a practical point travellers will recognise: the official 15-day processing window (extendable to 45 days) isn't the whole wait. The clock effectively starts when you try to book an appointment, and appointment scarcity can be the biggest bottleneck of all. The suggestion is that governments should measure and publish data across the full journey — appointment availability, submission, processing and passport return — so chronic slow spots become visible and fixable.

Digitalisation gets a cautious nod too. Online applications can cut duplication and make tracking easier, but a slick portal won't fix understaffed consulates behind it.

There's a commercial logic here as well. Nearly three-quarters of Europe's international arrivals in 2025 came from within Europe itself, which is impressive but leaves obvious room to grow long-haul markets — many of which require visas. The argument: tourism boards should sync their promotional campaigns with consular capacity, so a marketing push in, say, India or China doesn't collide with a visa backlog.

One useful caveat rounds it off. Smoother entry won't, on its own, solve overtourism. Easier visas should sit alongside destination management and efforts to spread visitors across seasons and regions, so the economic benefit reaches more communities without overwhelming the popular ones.

For anyone who has lost a holiday to a visa appointment queue, the takeaway is simple: the experience of getting into Europe is as much a part of the product as the destination itself — and it's finally being treated that way in policy circles.