Tourist overnight stays to reach 500 million in Q4 2023
In the last three months of 2023, almost 500 million overnight stays were spent in EU tourist accommodation: 217 million in October, 134 million in November and 144 million in December (see table 1). This represents 19 million (+3.9%) more overnight stays than in the last three months of 2022. 19 out of 26 EU Member States for which data are available reported a positive trend. The largest increases in the last quarter of 2023 were in Malta and Croatia, with +16.4% and +10.5%, respectively (see figure 1). More than half of the 494 million overnight stays in the EU in the fourth quarter were observed in the top three countries: Spain (93 million), Germany (92 million) and Italy (64 million), followed by France with 62 million.
Table 1: Number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation, October-December 2023 and 2023
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
Figure 1: Number of nights stayed in tourism accommodation in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2022 (percentage change)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
Tourist accommodation nights approach 3 billion in 2023
The data for December 2023 has been published, allowing estimates for the whole of 2023 to be obtained. 2023 will see a return to pre-pandemic tourism volumes, with 2.92 billion overnight stays in tourist accommodation in the EU (see table 1). This represents an increase of 1.4% compared to 2019 overnight stays and 6.1% compared to 2022. 25 out of 26 EU Member States for which annual data are currently available have 2023 overnight stays above the 2022 level, with only Luxembourg seeing a slight decrease (-0.8%). Nine countries recorded double-digit growth rates, exceeding 20% in Malta and Cyprus (see figure 2). The EU as a whole has shown a recovery from the pandemic, with overnight stays exceeding 2019 by 39 million nights (+1.4%), but this hides a very uneven picture across the EU, with 17 countries still below 2019 levels and 9 above 2019 levels. While the Netherlands (+19 million overnight stays), Spain (+14 million), France (+8 million) and Portugal (+7 million) saw large absolute increases compared to 2019, other countries still saw tourist numbers well below 2019 levels, notably Italy (-6 million), Germany (-5 million), Hungary and Slovakia (both -3 million). In relative terms, the latter (-16.6%) and Latvia (-20.7%) are still furthest from pre-pandemic tourist numbers.
Figure 2: Number of nights spent in tourist accommodation, 2023 vs. 2022 vs. 2019 (percentage change)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
Looking at the monthly distribution of overnight stays (see Figure 3), the seasonal pattern in 2023 is similar to that of four years ago, with July and August seeing a slight decline in their share (31.6% of total annual overnight stays in 2023 vs. 32.2% in 2019), while the off-season months of May and September saw a slight increase in their share of annual overnight stays (18.0% in 2019).
Figure 3: Number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation, EU, monthly distribution, 2019 and 2023 (million overnight stays)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
The largest contributor to growth in 2023 was international tourism.
The breakdown of guests by country of origin (see table 2) shows that overall the total number of overnight stays increased by 18.7 million (+3.9%) in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2022, with the increase mainly generated by the international tourism (+9.0%) sector. This sector accounted for almost all of the overall increase (+18.5 million overnight stays, with the domestic sector adding +0.2 million). In absolute terms, the largest increases in international overnight stays in Q4 were seen in Spain (+6.7 million) and Italy (+4.1 million). In relative terms, Malta (+17.3%), Czech Republic (+15.6%) and Italy (+13.8%) recorded the largest increases in foreign overnight stays in Q4. The highest growth rate in domestic overnight stays was recorded in Croatia (+10.1%), while the largest increase in absolute terms was recorded in Germany (+2.2 million domestic overnight stays), which was somehow offset by an equally large decrease in domestic overnight stays in France (-2.3 million, or -5.0%, compared to Q4 2022).
Table 2: Number of nights stayed in tourist accommodation by guest origin in Q4 2023
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
The significant contribution of international tourism flows to the overall growth observed in the fourth quarter of 2023 is also applicable to the full-year results, with international tourism accounting for 89% of the increase in overnight stays. Last year, the number of overnight stays increased by 168.6 million, of which 150.3 million were additional overnight stays by international visitors (+12.4%) and 18.3 million were additional overnight stays by domestic guests (+1.2%) (see Table 3). The largest increase in international overnight stays was in Spain (+31 million overnight stays, +11.4%), while the largest increase in domestic overnight stays was in Germany (+19.3 million overnight stays, +5.8%). In terms of percentage change, the highest growth in international tourism was observed in Slovakia and the Czech Republic (both +29%). In terms of volume, domestic tourism remained the leading segment, accounting for 1.56 billion overnight stays (53.4% of the total 2.92 million overnight stays in 2023).
Table 3: Number of nights stayed in tourist accommodation by origin of guests in 2023
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
The evolution of international tourism flows, which remains impressive throughout 2023, did not completely close the gap with pre-pandemic 2019 levels. At 1.36 billion international tourism overnight stays in 2023, they are still 3.4 million below 2019 levels (-0.3%). Domestic tourism, on the other hand, recorded a record high, 2.8% above 2019 levels. In all but three of the EU25 countries for which data are available, the number of domestic tourism overnight stays exceeded the number of domestic overnight stays in 2019 (see Figure 4). For international tourism, the picture is more mixed, with international visitor numbers still below 2019 levels in more than half of the EU countries.
Figure 4: Percentage change in number of nights spent in tourist accommodation by guest origin, 2023 vs. 2019
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninat) (tour_occ_nim)
Nearly two-thirds of overnight stays in 2023 were in hotels.
Traditionally, the camping sector has been relatively unimportant in the fourth quarter (3.7% of total nights, the majority of which were recorded in October 2023). Hotels and similar accommodation accounted for 74.0% of nights in the fourth quarter, with holiday and other short-term accommodation making up the remaining 22.3%. At the annual level, the dominance of the hotel sector has declined somewhat, accounting for 62.9% of total nights in EU tourist accommodation (see Figure 5). Holiday and short-term accommodation and campsites accounted for 23.6% and 13.5% of the market, respectively.
Figure 5: Number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation, by accommodation type, EU, 2023 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_nim)
Data on tourist accommodation are included in the interactive European Statistics Recovery Dashboard. The dashboard contains monthly and quarterly indicators for different statistical areas that help track the economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic across countries and over time. The dashboard is updated monthly to show the latest data for each indicator.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data Source
This article analyses monthly data provided by Member States to provide short-term trends in overnight stays in tourist accommodation in the EU.
For annual developments in the number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation and a detailed analysis of the annual data for 2022, please see “Tourism Statistics – Annual Results for the Accommodation Sector.”
context
The EU is a major tourist destination, with four member states ranking in the top 10 holiday destinations globally, according to the UNWTO.[1] Data. Tourism is an important activity in the EU, contributing to employment and economic growth, as well as the development of rural, peripheral or underdeveloped areas. These characteristics call for reliable and harmonised statistics on this activity, and in the broader context of regional and sustainable development policy areas.
