Eurostat: Record 2,99 billion overnight stays in the EU in 2024

Most guests prefer hotel accommodation, with 1,9 billion overnight stays or 63% of the total.

Author  HrTurizam.hr

January 18, 2025

The estimated number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation facilities in the European Union in 2024 reached 2,99 billion, up 53,4 million or 2 percent from the previous year, the European Commission announced yesterday. Eurostat.

The growth in tourist overnight stays was mainly contributed by an increase in overnight stays foreign guests (+58,7 million), while domestic guest nights recorded a modest decline (-5,3 million). In 2024, overnight stays in the EU were fairly balanced between international (48%) and domestic guests (52%).

In terms of accommodation, hotel and similar accommodation accounted for 1,9 billion overnight stays (63% of the total), followed by holiday apartments and other short-stay accommodation with 711 million (24%) and campsites with 396 million (13%).

Compared to last year, in 2024 the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation increased in almost all countries in the bloc.

The largest increases were recorded in Luxembourg (+22%), Malta (+13%) and Latvia (+7%). Slight decreases were recorded in France and Belgium (both -1%), while figures remained stable in Sweden, Finland and Italy.

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"The long-term evolution shows tourism levels in 2024 that were almost 50 percent above those of 15 years ago (from 2 billion overnight stays in 2009 to 3 billion in 2024) and 4 percent above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.," the researchers said in the report.

If we go back a few years, the data show us that in the year of the pandemic in 2020, the number of overnight stays by tourists in all segments fell below 1,5 billion. However, as soon as the situation stabilized and travel became safe again, the number of visits to European Union countries began to increase.

Thus, the figures from 2022 show a small drop compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019 (the number of overnight stays was 2,88 billion), while 2024 represents a jump of 2 percent compared to 2023, as stated in the introduction of the article.

Domestic tourists still outnumber international guests, a trend that dates back at least to 2009 when Eurostat began publishing data.

Foreign tourist stays increased last year, with almost six million more overnight stays than in 2023. Domestic travel fell slightly over the same period - people spent about five million fewer nights in their home countries in 2024.

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Most tourists visiting European Union countries prefer hotelsHoteliers registered reservations for almost two billion overnight stays in 2024, which is approximately two-thirds of the 2,99 billion overnight stays that tourists spent in the bloc's countries last year. 

As we mentioned in the introduction, guests spent around 711 million nights in short-term accommodation, while over 396 million nights were recorded in campsites.

Camping Camping was most popular in France, where 51 percent of visitors chose to sleep outdoors in the third quarter of last year. Camping is also particularly popular with visitors to Luxembourg and Denmark.

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"Tourism is an important activity in the European Union, contributing to employment and economic growth as well as to the development of rural, peripheral or less developed areas. It is estimated that tourism accounts for 4,5 percent of the EU's gross value added.", the researchers said.

Along with tourism, economists also monitor inflation to gauge the strength of the bloc's economy.

Although Eurostat found that inflation rate in the EU fell to 2,7 percent in December 2024 from 3,4 percent in 2023, the figure is still well above the European Central Bank's target of two percent next year.

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Photo: Pexels

Author  HrTurizam.hr

January 18, 2025