In 2024, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments across the EU increased by 2.7% compared with 2023, exceeding 3 billion for the first time, according to Eurostat. 

Close to two-thirds (62.8%) of all overnight stays were made in hotels and similar accommodation, 23.7% in holiday and other short-stay accommodation such as rented apartments and 13.5% in camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks.

Among EU countries, Cyprus and Malta registered the highest year-on-year growth in tourism nights, with increases of 14.5% and 14.4%, respectively. Latvia followed at a distance, registering a 7.4% growth rate compared with 2023.

In contrast, only 2 countries recorded slight decreases compared with 2023: Finland (-0,7%) and France (-0.6%). Belgium and Sweden showed relatively stable figures, with 0.3% increases.

Most of the 3.02 billion nights spent across the EU were made by domestic guests from their respective countries (51.9%; 1.57 billion) while the remaining 48.1% (1.45 billion) were made by international guests.

The majority of nights spent by international guests were tourists from other EU countries (61.6%) and other European countries (21.3%), while only 16.4% of international overnight stays were made by people from other world regions.

Among them, guests from North America accounted for 7.5% of all international stays, ahead of Asia with 4.9%, Central and South America with 2.3%, Oceania with 1.0% and Africa with 0.8%. -TradeArabia News Service