Statistics Explained

Tourism statistics - annual results for the accommodation sector


Data extracted in October 2023.

Planned article update: 25 October 2024.

Highlights

Nights spent in EU tourist accommodation in 2022: up by 50% compared with 2021, reaching 96% of the pre-Covid-19 levels.

In 2022, German tourists accounted for nearly one in four nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation.

Infographic doughnut chart showing percentage of total nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation by world region of residence of the guest in the year 2022.

This publication focuses on developments in the tourist accommodation sector in the European Union.

Following continuous growth from 2009 until 2019, tourism in the EU was among the most affected sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments in 2020 fell to half compared with 2019. 2021 showed clear signs of recovery, reaching nearly two-thirds of 2019 levels. The upward trend continued in 2022, when it reached 96 %, while short term indicators for monthly data showed that the number of nights spent during the first six months of 2023 exceeded the pre-pandemic level for the first six months of 2019 (see Tourism statistics - nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments).

Full article

Nights spent in EU tourist accommodation in 2022: up by 50 % compared with 2021, reaching 96 % of the pre-Covid-19 levels.

Over the period 2009-2019, the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments grew by 40 %. In particular, there were significant increases in the number of nights spent by international guests (+53 %) while the number of nights spent by residents during domestic trips increased by 30 %. In 2020, tourism was among the most affected sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic with a sharp drop of 51 % in the number of nights spent compared with 2019. 2021 showed clear signs of recovery, with 29 % more nights spent in EU tourist accommodation compared with 2020, while the upward trend continued in 2022, with 50 % more nights spent compared with 2021 (see Figure 1).

Line chart showing indexed trends in nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments. Three lines represent total nights spent, nights spent by international tourists and nights spent by domestic tourists over the years 2009 to 2022. The year 2009 is indexed at 100.
Figure 1: Trends in nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments, 2009-2022 (index:2009=100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat)

With almost 2.8 billion nights spent in 2022 (see Table 1), EU tourism reached 96 % of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Spain, France, Italy and Germany each recorded more than 400 million nights spent in 2022. Jointly, these four countries accounted for more than six out of ten nights spent in the EU in 2022.

Looking at the distribution by type of accommodation, hotels and similar accommodation were clearly the most popular (61.6 %), followed by holiday and other short-stay accommodation such as rented apartments (24.0 %) and camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks (14.5 %). However, there were significant regional differences: in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta hotels covered more than 90 % of the entire market for rented accommodation; more than half of the tourism nights in Croatia were spent in holiday and other short-stay accommodation, while the highest share for campsites was observed in Denmark, France and Luxembourg, with more than 30 % of total nights spent.

Table showing nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo in the year 2022.
Table 1: Nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments, 2022
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

The increase at EU level compared with 2021 reflected positive trends in all EU Member States. Portugal, Greece, Malta, Spain and Austria reported the highest increases of more than 70 % compared with 2021 (see blue bars in Figure 2). Comparing, however, with the pre-Covid-19 figures (see brown bars in Figure 2), Latvia and Slovakia still faced the biggest gap to bridge, reaching less than 75 % of 2019 levels. On the other hand, Denmark (+12.3 %), the Netherlands (+4.3 %), Belgium (+1.2 %) and France (+0.7 %) fully recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vertical bar chart showing percentage change nights spent in tourist accommodation in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo. Each country has two columns representing the percentage change for the year 2022 with 2021 and 2022 with 2019.
Figure 2: Nights spent in tourist accommodation, 2022 compared with 2021 and 2019 (% change)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

All three types of tourist accommodation showed increases for 2022 compared with 2021. The number of nights spent in hotels increased by 63.2 %, remaining however 8.7 % lower compared with 2019. Nights spent in holiday and other short-stay accommodation and nights spent at campsites increased by 41.2 % and 21.7 % respectively in 2022 compared with 2021, reaching 2019 levels (+0.1 % and +9.9 % respectively) (see Table 2).

Table showing percentage change nights spent in tourist accommodation by type of establishment in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo for the year 2022 compared with 2021 and 2019.
Table 2: Percentage change in nights spent in tourist accommodation, by type of establishment, 2022 compared with 2021 and with 2019 (% change)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

Taking into account the population of the country (tourism intensity), Croatia (with 23.3 nights) and Malta and Cyprus (15.8 nights each) recorded the highest number of nights spent per inhabitant over the year 2022 (see blue bars in Figure 3). In the EU, an average of 6.2 guest nights were recorded in relation to the overall population of 446.7 million in 2022, 0.2 nights less compared with 2019 when tourism intensity at EU level was 6.4 nights spent per inhabitant (see brown dashes in Figure 3).

Vertical bar chart showing tourism intensity as nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments per inhabitant in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo. Each country column represents the year 2022 and scatter plots 2019.
Figure 3: Tourism intensity, nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments per inhabitant, 2022 and 2019
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

In three EU countries, fewer domestic nights were spent in 2022 than in 2021

The outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 caused a shift towards domestic tourism. In 2022 compared with 2019, nights spent by international guests fell by 12 %, while nights spent by domestic tourists increased by 2 % (see Table 3). The share of nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation dropped from 47 % in 2019 to 29 % in 2020, while in 2021 this share increased to 32 % of total nights spent and further to 44 % in 2022. Although domestic tourism was less affected, it could only partly compensate for the decline in international tourism.

Table showing percentage change nights spent in tourist accommodation by origin of the guest in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo for the year 2022 compared with 2021 and 2019.
Table 3: Nights spent in tourist accommodation, by origin of the guest, 2022 compared with 2021 and with 2019 (% change)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

In 2022 compared with 2021, nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation increased by 104 %, reflected in all Member States. The lowest increases, below 60 %, were reported by Croatia, Cyprus and Luxembourg, while in Czechia the overnight stays by international guests almost tripled. Figure 4 shows for each Member State, how close overnight stays by international tourists in 2022 came to 2019 levels, the year before the pandemic. Denmark, Croatia, Portugal and Luxembourg reached over 95 % of 2019 levels, while international tourists in Latvia in 2022 spent less than 60 % of the nights they had spent in 2019.

Vertical bar chart showing indexed nights spent by international guests in tourist accommodation in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo. Each country column represents the year 2022 and scatter plots 2021. A line across all countries represents the year 2019 indexed at 100.
Figure 4: Nights spent by international guests in tourist accommodation, 2021 and 2022 compared with 2019 (2019=100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

In 2022, 25 % more domestic nights were spent in EU tourist accommodation compared with 2021. Greece (+42 %) and Germany (+41 %) recorded the biggest increases, while Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia reported drops in domestic nights (most likely a substitution effect after a year where it was relatively difficult to travel abroad). Given the fact that domestic tourism recovered faster than international tourism, nights spent by domestic guests in the EU in 2022 reached 2019 levels (+2 %). Figure 5 shows that in 19 EU countries, domestic nights recovered completely in 2022 and even surpassed 2019 levels, while in all other countries domestic nights are much closer to 2019 levels compared with international nights.

Vertical bar chart showing indexed nights spent by domestic guests in tourist accommodation in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye and Kosovo. Each country column represents the year 2022 and scatter plots 2021. A line across all countries represents the year 2019 indexed at 100.
Figure 5: Nights spent by domestic guests in tourist accommodation, 2021 and 2022 compared with 2019 (2019=100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)

The top 30 NUTS 3 regions represented 26.5 % of all nights spent in the EU

Looking at regional[1] data, the top region at NUTS 3 level attracted 1.8 % of all nights spent in the EU during 2022. This was the Spanish region of Mallorca, followed by the French region of the capital city Paris, the Spanish region of Barcelona and the Italian region of Venezia. In 2022, the top 30 regions accounted for 26.5 % of all nights spent in the 1 166 NUTS 3 regions of the EU, while accounting for only 2.9 % of the EU territory (see Table 4). One in eight tourism nights was spent in the top 10 of the in total 1166 regions, these 10 regions representing only 1.1 % of the EU territory.

Map 1 shows nights spent by international guests as share of total nights spent in each NUTS 3 region. The region of Ausserfern in the Austrian Tirol, the three Greek regions of Irakleio, Lasithi and Rethymno in the island of Crete, and the Croatian region of Istarska županija (Istria County) come on top with 96 % of nights spent by international guests.

Table showing the top 30 EU tourism destinations as NUTS 3 regions in terms of million nights spent and percentage share in tourist accommodation for the year 2022.
Table 4: Top 30 EU tourism destinations (NUTS 3 regions) in terms of nights spent in tourist accommodation, 2022
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nin3)


Map showing percentage share in total nights spent by international guests in tourist accommodation in the EU and surrounding countries. Each NUTS 3 region is colour-coded within a certain range for the year 2022.
Map 1: Nights spent by international guests in tourist accommodation, 2022 (as % share in total nights spent), by NUTS 3 regions
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nin3)

Paris, the most visited city in the EU

From 2020 reference year on, Eurostat publishes data on nights spent in selected cities, including all capitals and cities with a minimum population of 200 000 inhabitants as well as some other cities that are of particular importance for tourism. In 2022, more than 71 million nights were spent in Paris, the most visited city in the EU, followed by Roma and Berlin with respectively 29.2 and 26.3 million nights.

Table 5 shows for each country the top 3 cities in terms of nights spent in tourist accommodation. With the exception of Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia and Cyprus the most visited city was the capital city of each Member State. In Latvia, Lithuania and Malta, the capital city accounted for more than half of the total nights spent in the country. Very important shares of the capital cities were also recorded in Estonia (44.5 %), Luxembourg (33.6 %), Hungary (29.6 %), Czechia (26.5 %) and Portugal (22.2 %).

Table showing nights spent in tourist accommodation in the top three cities in the EU, individual EU Member States and EFTA countries for the year 2022.
Table 5: Nights spent in tourist accommodation, top 3 cities in terms of nights spent, 2022
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninc) (tour_occ_nim)


German tourists accounted for nearly four out of every 10 nights spent by international tourists in EU tourist accommodation

In 2022, more than half (56.4 %) of nights in tourist accommodation were spent by domestic tourists, travelling inside their own country (see Figure 6).

Pie chart showing percentage nights spent in EU tourist accommodation by origin of guest. Three segments represent domestic, international from other EU countries and international from outside the EU for the year 2022.
Figure 6: Nights spent in EU tourist accommodation by origin of the guest, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninraw)

The majority of the 1.2 billion nights spent by international guests were by tourists coming from other EU Member States (65 %), while 22 % were spent by tourists coming from other European countries. Only 13 % of non-resident nights were spent by tourists from other continents (see Figure 7).

Pie chart showing nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation as percentage of total international nights spent by world region of residence of the guest for the year 2022.
Figure 7: Nights spent by international guests in EU tourist accommodation, by world region of residence of the guest, 2022 (% of total international nights)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninraw)

German tourists accounted for 23 % of the total international nights in EU tourist accommodation, followed by French and Italian tourists (with 5.7 % and 3.4 % respectively). For 11 out of the 26 Member States with available data – excluding the German domestic market – the greatest number of tourists came from Germany. For the 13 remaining Member States, nights spent by German tourists were their second or third market, the only exception being Malta (see Table 6).

Table showing percentage nights spent in tourist accommodation by top countries of origin of the guest in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye for the year 2022. Kosovo.
Table 6: Nights spent in tourist accommodation, top countries of origin of the guest, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_ninraw)

More than 28 million bed places in EU tourist accommodation

In 2022, the EU could offer 28.9 million bed places to accommodate tourists, spread over more than 621 000 establishments. In terms of bed places, Italy (with 5.2 million bed places) and France (with 5.1 million bed places) accounted for more than one-third of total available capacity (see Table 7).

Table showing capacity of tourist accommodation establishments by NACE group in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye for the year 2022.
Table 7: Capacity of tourist accommodation establishments by NACE group, 2022
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat)

The comparability and completeness of this data is affected by the fact that countries apply data collection thresholds. In many countries, establishments having fewer than ten bed places are not covered by these statistics, but the threshold applied is not identical across the European Union. This means that the 28.9 million bed places mentioned above is a modest estimate; the actual number of bed places including those offered in the smallest establishments may be higher than the published estimate.

For countries where a breakdown by size class is available, 58 % of hotels and similar accommodation establishments had less than 25 bedrooms, 34 % had between 25 and 99 and 9 % were large establishments with a capacity of 100 or more bedrooms (see Table 8).

table showing percentage hotels and similar accommodation establishments by size class in the EU, individual EU Member States and EFTA countries for the year 2022.
Table 8: Hotels and similar accommodation establishments by size class, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nats)

Average occupancy rate of bed places in hotels was 47 % in 2022

Comparing the capacity data in terms of available beds or rooms with the occupancy data in terms of nights spent gives an indicator of the occupancy rates. At EU level, the net occupancy rate of bed places in hotels was 47 % in 2022, down by 3 percentage points (pp) compared with 2019. The highest occupancy rates were recorded in Cyprus (66 %), Spain (59 %), Croatia (55 %), Malta (54 %) and Greece (51 %) (see Figure 8).

Vertical bar chart showing percentage net occupancy rates of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation in the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. Each country has two columns comparing the year 2019 with 2022.
Figure 8: Net occupancy rates of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation, 2019 and 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_anor)

Source data for tables and graphs

Data sources

For the short-term trends in the nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union (EU), see the quarterly updated article Tourism statistics - nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments.

Context

The EU is a major tourist destination, with four Member States among the world's top ten destinations for holidaymakers, according to UNWTO[2] data. Tourism is an important activity in the EU which contributes to employment and economic growth, as well as to the development of rural, peripheral or less-developed areas. These characteristics drive the demand for reliable and harmonised statistics on this activity, as well as within the wider context of regional policy and sustainable development policy areas.

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Notes

  1. ↑ More detailed regional data: Tourism statistics at regional level
  2. ↑ UNWTO data
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