Data extracted in January 2025.
Planned article update: December 2025.
Highlights
In 2023, EU residents spent an estimated €555 billion on tourism trips, mostly on trips abroad (57%).
EU residents spent 85% of their tourism expenditure on trips inside Europe (77% inside the EU).
Europeans spent on average €289 on a domestic trip and €1 013 on a foreign trip in 2023.
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This article is part of the Eurostat online publication Tourism trips of Europeans. The publication provides recent statistics on tourism demand in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries.
The other articles in this online publication analyse physical flows of tourists. This 1 adds a monetary dimension by taking a closer look at the expenditure of EU residents during tourism trips made in 2023. In the context of the article, all expenditure for a given trip refers to individual expenditure (not household expenditure or the expenditure of a travel party). The expenditure is allocated to the main country of destination, no matter in which country the service provider is based or where the turnover or added value was created. For example, if an individual uses an airline carrier, travel agency or tour operator based in a country other than that of the main destination, this expenditure will be allocated to the main country of destination, not to the country of the airline carrier, travel agency or tour operator.
Nearly half of Europeans' tourism expenditure is spent by German and French tourists
In 2023, EU residents spent an estimated €555 billion on tourism trips (see Table 1). Of this, they spent 43% on trips within their own country of residence (domestic tourism) and 57% on trips abroad (outbound tourism). However, domestic trips represented much more of the total number of trips (73%), while trips abroad represented 27% - see the article on the characteristics of tourism trips.
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
In 17 of the 25 EU countries with available data, residents spent half or more of the tourism expenditure during 2023 on trips abroad (see Figure 1). The highest shares for foreign expenditure were observed for Luxembourg (98%), followed by Malta (91%), Belgium (90%), Cyprus (87%), Latvia (83%) and the Netherlands (81%). The residents of Romania and Greece spent more than 70% of their total tourism expenditure on domestic trips.
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
In all countries, most tourism expenditure occurred during longer trips of 4 or more nights (EU average: 73%), with residents of Greece, Luxembourg and the Netherlands having spent more than 80 % of their tourism expenditure for long trips.
For each tourism trip, Europeans spent on average €485 per person (see Table 2). Broken down by destination, they spent €289 on average on a domestic trip and €1 013 on a foreign trip. The average spent per night (and per person) was €97 (€74 on average for each domestic tourism night and €130 a night on average for trips abroad).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
Per trip, tourists from Luxembourg spent the most (€1 214), followed by Austrians (€785) and German tourist (€705) while around €250 per trip was spent by residents of Lithuania and Romania (see Figure 2). Domestic tourism expenditure per trip was highest in Austria (€435), followed by Italy (€400). The highest spenders per foreign tourism trip (€1 000 or more) were tourists from Luxembourg, Germany, Cyprus, Austria, France, Finland, Estonia and Spain.
Residents of Luxembourg, Austria, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and Estonia spent at least €130 per night on average during their tourism trips, while residents of Czechia and Poland spent less than €60 (see Figure 3).
German and French tourists were the highest spenders in absolute terms. Their expenditure accounted for nearly half (49%) of the tourism expenditure of all EU residents. This share is more than the proportion of German and French tourists in the total number of trips (43%) or overnight stays (45%) – see the article on the characteristics of tourism trips.
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
Europeans spend 77% of their total tourism expenditure on trips inside the EU
In 2023, intra-EU tourism accounted for 93% of all tourism trips (73% of which were domestic trips and 20% trips to another EU country). In terms of expenditure, however, domestic trips accounted for 43% of total tourism expenditure (see Figure 4), all EU destinations (including domestic) for 77% and destinations outside the EU for 23% (compared with only 7% of the number of tourism trips).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extotw), (tour_dem_ttw)
Europeans travelling to foreign continents spent most on trips to America (6% of total expenditure by EU residents on tourism trips), followed by Asia (5%) and Africa (3%). European destinations outside the EU accounted for nearly 8% of all of the tourism expenditure of EU residents.
Expenditure on accommodation accounts for one-third of the tourism budget of EU residents
Accommodation took up 36% of tourism expenditure, while transport accounted for 29% and miscellaneous other costs for 35% (see Figure 5). Looking at domestic and foreign trips separately, the share of transport expenditure was higher by 9 percentage points for foreign trips than for domestic trips. The difference in the share of accommodation expenditure was less significant (+1 percentage point for foreign trips).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot)
On average, expenditure per trip was higher for trips for which the main accommodation was rented (see Figure 6). The average cost of trips spent at hotels was €754 and in rented houses or apartments was €630, while trips spent at an own holiday home cost €247 on average and those spent at accommodation provided free of charge by friends or relatives cost €203.
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_extot) (tour_dem_ttac)
For trips where the main means of accommodation was rented accommodation, the average expenditure per night per person on accommodation was €60 – ranging from €26 per night for trips spent mainly at campsites to €77 for trips spent mainly at hotels (see Figure 7).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_exac)
Age makes a slight difference to the average expenditure per trip
Tourists under 45 years old accounted for less tourism expenditure (43% of expenditure made by all age groups) than tourism trips in 2023 (47%). On average tourists of this age group spent €448 per trip, while the youngest (15-24 years old) spent the least (€385) (see Figure 8 and Figure 9). The rest (and older) of the age groups spent €518 on average per trip, while tourists aged from 55 to 64 years spent the most (€524).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_exage) (tour_dem_ttage)
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_exage)
Business travel accounts for 12% of total tourism expenditure in 2023
Holiday, leisure and recreation trips accounted for the majority of tourism expenditure (67%) in 2023 (see Figure 10). Visits to relatives and friends accounted for only 16% of all tourism expenditure, but they represented 32% of all tourism trips (accommodation is more likely to be offered for free on such trips). A typical visit to relatives and friends costs nearly half compared with the average tourism trip for personal reasons (€241 compared with €470) (see Figure 11).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_expur) (tour_dem_ttpur)
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_expur)
Business trips accounted for 12% of tourism expenditure in 2023. At €625, they recorded the highest average expenditure per trip, while the expenditure per night (see Figure 12) was 2.1 times higher for business trips than for trips for personal purposes (€192 per night versus €91 per night).
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Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_expur)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
Collection of annual data on trips of EU residents
The collection consists of harmonised data collected by the EU countries in the frame of the Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism.
The scope of observation for data on tourism trips are all tourism trips with at least 1 overnight stay, made by the resident population aged 15 and over. It includes trips made for private or professional purpose, outside the usual environment.
Context
The EU is a major tourist destination, with 6 EU countries among the world's top 10 destinations for holidaymakers, according to [1] 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. Tourism is estimated to account for 4.5% to the EU's gross value added. 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.
Notes
Explore further
Other articles
- Tourism trips of Europeans (online publication)
- All articles on tourism statistics
Database
- Tourism (tour), see:
- Trips of EU residents - annual data
- Tourism trips (tour_dem_tt)
- Tourism nights (tour_dem_tn)
- Expenditure on tourism trips (tour_dem_ex)
Thematic section
Publications
Selected datasets
Methodology
- Trips of EU residents - annual data (ESMS metadata file — tour_dem_esms)
External links
- Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism (Communication from the European Commission, October 2007)
- European Commission - Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs - Tourism
Legislation
- With 2012 as reference year:
- Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC. (Summary)
- Regulation (EU) No 1051/2011 of 20 October 2011 implementing Regulation 692/2011 concerning European statistics on tourism, as regards the structure of the quality reports and the transmission of the data.
- Previous legal acts (concerning reference periods before 2012):
- Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism.
- Commission Decision 1999/35/CE of 9 December 1998 on the procedures for implementing Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism.
- Commission Decision 2004/883/CE of 10 December 2004 adjusting the Annex to Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism as regards country lists.
- Directive 2006/110/EC of 20 November 2006 adapting Directives 95/57/EC and 2001/109/EC in the field of statistics, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.