Data extracted in January 2025
Planned article update: December 2025
Highlights
Share of EU population (aged 15 and over) participating in tourism, by destination, 2023 (%)
This article is part of the Eurostat online publication Tourism trips of Europeans, which provides statistics on tourism demand in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries.
The article analyses participation in tourism (sometimes called 'tourism propensity'), defined as the proportion of a given population that makes at least one tourism trip of a specified minimum duration in a given reference period. In this article, the reference period is one calendar year (2023) and the scope is all tourism trips taken for personal purposes (excluding trips for professional purposes) of at least one overnight stay.
These statistics show how many Europeans participate in tourism in the context of policy initiatives promoting "tourism for all". However, not all "non-tourists" should be considered excluded — some population groups are simply not interested in making tourism trips (as opposed to others whose reasons for not travelling are linked to constraints such as their financial situation, physical disabilities or lack of time due to family and/or work commitments).
Already since 2022, there have been no travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic anymore. The tourism sector started to recover already in 2021, getting closer to the levels of 2019, pre-pandemic year, and this recovery continued also in 2022 and 2023.
1.7 million fewer Europeans made tourism trips in 2023 compared with 2019
In recent decades, tourism trips have become an important aspect of the lives of many Europeans. Tourism gives people the opportunity to break out from their usual environment and discover other parts of their own country, other countries in Europe or other regions of the world. Tourism thus helps to bring people from different cultures together and fosters mutual respect between different communities within and across countries or continents.
In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 had an unprecedented impact on travel behaviour of people all around the world due to the related measures put in place in all countries worldwide, and the perceived health risk and uncertainty of people to travel. In 2021, many of the restrictions were lifted, allowing the tourism sector to start recovering.
Nearly 242 million Europeans (aged 15 or over) participated in tourism in 2023, making at least 1 tourism trip for personal purposes (see Table 1). This represents a drop of 0.7% (or 1.7 million fewer tourists) compared with 2019, but an increase of 5% (or 12.5 million more tourists) compared with 2022. 10 countries exceeded 2019 levels, namely Ireland (+17%), France (+14%), Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Latvia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Austria (each with less than 10%), while the highest drops were recorded in Estonia (-27%), Slovakia (-21%) and Sweden (-14%), as seen in Figure 1.
_participating_in_tourism_by_destination,_2023_compared_with_2019_(%25)_1.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
_participating_in_tourism,_2023_compared_with_2019_(%25)_2.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
Looking closer at the destination of the trip, 2.5% fewer Europeans travelled abroad in 2023 compared with 2019. This drop at EU level reflects decreases in more than half of the EU countries. The biggest drops of more than 25% were registered in Sweden, Italy, Slokavia and Estonia, while double-digit increases in the number of tourists travelling abroad were observed for residents of Ireland (+23.5%) and Latvia (+19.4%) (see Table 1).
Domestic tourism was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the impact was less dramatic than on international tourism, because during the pandemic there was a slight shift towards domestic tourism. Therefore also a more rapid recovery can be seen, only 0.7% fewer Europeans having made trips inside their own country in 2023 compared with 2019. Residents of Belgium, France, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, Spain, Latvia, Portugal and Slovenia made more domestic trips in 2023 compared with 2019, while in The Netherland the number of domestic trips were at the same level as before the COVID-19 pandemic. All other countries, however, also saw a decline in the number of domestic tourists, with Estonia reporting the biggest drop (-50%).
More than 6 in 10 EU residents made tourism trips in 2023
This subpopulation of tourists (not including business trips) of nearly 242 million Europeans who made at least 1 tourism trip for personal purposes in 2023 corresponds to nearly two thirds (65%) of the EU population (aged 15 or over). Around one third (32%) of Europeans made at least 1 domestic tourism trip with at least 1 overnight stay and no trips abroad, while only 10% made at least 1 trip abroad and no domestic trips. However, one fifth of the Europeans made domestic trips as well as foreign trips (see Figure 2).
When only trips of at least 4 overnight stays are taken into account — thus excluding tourists whose trips lasted no more than 3 nights — the participation rate drops to 51% (see pie chart on the right of Figure 2).
_participating_to_personal_trips,_2023_(%25).png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
Figure 3 shows the change in the shares of participation in tourism in 2023 compared with the pre-Covid year 2019. The share of the EU population participating in tourism, regardless of the destination, dropped by 0.5 percentage points for trips with at least 1 overnight stay and by only 0.2 percentage points for long trips of at least 4 overnight stays.
The analysis in the first chapter shows a drop in the number of domestic tourists, those who made at least 1 trip inside their own country, independently of whether they also travelled abroad or not. Looking closer at Europeans who made only domestic and no foreign trips, the share of participation was slightly higher in 2023 compared with 2019 both for all trips and for the segment of long trips. More than half of the European tourists made only domestic trips in 2023. However, compared with 2022, the share of participation only in domestic trips dropped by 0.7% for all trips and by 0.3% for the segment of long trips, while the share increased for people having participated in both domestic and international trips or in international trips only.
_participating_to_personal_trips,_2023_compared_with_2019_and_2022_(percentage_points).png)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
In 2023 participation of Europeans in tourism ranged from 85% in France to 27% in Romania
In 9 countries, at least 7 out of 10 residents made at least 1 tourism trip for personal purposes in 2023: France (85%), the Netherlands (84%), Luxembourg (83%), Finland (81%), Ireland (78%), Austria (77%), Czechia and Germany (74% each) and Sweden (71%) (see Table 2 and Figure 4). At the other end, 3 out of 10 residents of Bulgaria (31%) and less than 3 out of 10 residents of Romania (27%) participated in tourism. In 2019, the share of persons participating in tourism ranged from 29% in Romania to 85% in the Netherlands.
,_2023_and_2019_1.png)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
_participating_in_tourism_by_destination,_2023_(%25).png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
In the 2 largest countries, Germany and France, in terms of population, the participation rate was higher than the EU average (74% and 85%, respectively); together they accounted for 4 out of 10 European tourists.
Countries with the highest participation rates in domestic tourism (namely "domestic trips only" plus "domestic and foreign trips") were France (81%), Finland (76%), Czechia (66%), Spain (64%) and the Netherlands (60%). As regards foreign tourism, the highest participation rates were observed among residents of Luxembourg (82%), followed at some distance by the Netherlands (67%), Ireland (65%), Austria (62%) and Belgium (60%).
Countries whose populations made the highest proportion of domestic trips only (and no foreign trips) during 2023 were France (56%), Spain (45%) and Poland (44%).
More than half of the Europeans aged 65 years and over did not make any trips in 2023
On average, 65% of the EU population made tourism trips for personal purposes in the course of 2023. The participation rate ranged between 64% and 76% in all age groups except for those aged 65 years and over, where it dropped to 49% (see Figure 5). While persons aged 65 years and over represented 25% of the EU population aged 15 years and over, they accounted for only 19% of EU tourists (see Figure 6). However, even with a low share of participation in tourism, this age group of 65 years and over represented nearly 46 million tourists. Compared with 2019, participation in tourism dropped for all age groups in 2023 but 2, ranging from -3.6% for Europeans aged 15 to 24 years to -0.9% for those aged 35 to 44 years. The only exceptions corresponded to Europeans aged 55 to 64 years, who recorded an increase of +0.6% and the Europeans aged 65 years or older, who registered +3.8% of increase compared to 2019 (see Figure 7).
_2.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_toage)
.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_toage), (demo_pjangroup)
.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_toage)
In 2023, around half of the European tourists made only domestic trips
This section looks closer at the segment of the EU population who made tourism trips and the breakdown by destination of those trips. Almost half (49%) of the EU tourists made only domestic trips in 2023, an increase compared with 2019 when this share was 48% (see Figure 8). Considering tourists who made both domestic and foreign trips, 85% of EU tourists made at least 1 domestic trip in 2023.
The pattern was fairly stable across all age groups for domestic trips. 43% of tourists aged 65 years and over made foreign trips while for the other age groups this share ranged from 51% to 57% of their tourist population (see Figure 9).
.png)
(% of tourist population)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_totot)
.png)
(% of tourist population)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_toage)
In 2023, nearly 3 out of 10 Europeans could not afford to pay for 1 week of holidays
The collection of data on reasons for not participating in tourism started in 2014 with 2013 as first reference year. This data is sent to Eurostat every 3 years. In 2013, 20% of all EU residents aged 15 years and over reported financial issues as 1 of the main reasons for not participating in tourism. This share dropped to 18% in 2016 and decreased further to 16% in 2019, reaching 15% in 2022.
The statistics on income and living conditions, however, include an indicator related to tourism which gives the proportion of the population that cannot afford to pay for 1 week of annual holiday away from home during the reference year (see Figure 10 and Figure 11). After a peak of 40.5% in 2012 due to the economic crisis, this proportion started decreasing in 2013 and reached 28.0% in 2019. In 2020, the share of Europeans who could not afford 1 week of annual holidays increased again to 28.7% and then decreased to 27.7% in 2021. In 2023 it was 28.5%, ranging from 11% in Luxembourg to more than 40% in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece.
The data on participation in tourism shows that the share of EU residents aged 15 years and over that did not participate in any trips of at least four overnight stays remained more or less stable during the ten-year period 2010-2019, ranging from 48.8% in 2019 to 52.9% in 2014, but increased sharply to 61.9% in 2020. A decrease followed in 2021, reaching 57.8% and continued further in 2022, reaching 51.6% and in 2023 decreasing to 48.9%, the same level as 2018. This data looks at Europeans who did not make any long trips, independently of the reason for not travelling; it reflects, however, the impact of Covid-19 in 2020 and the slow recovery in 2021. Given the relatively stable share of the population that cannot afford to pay for 1 week of annual holiday away from home in 2020 and 2021, the lower participation during these years tends to be mainly due to other reasons than financial ones (for example, health reasons, COVID-19 restrictions, no motivation to travel, etc.).
.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_mdes02), (tour_dem_totot), (tour_dem_npsex)
.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_mdes02)
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 Member States 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 the data on participation in tourism are the residents of the country, aged 15 years and over, and refers only to tourism for personal purposes, excluding trips made for professional reasons. The scope of observation for the data on quality of life, in particular the inability to afford to pay for 1-week annual holiday away from home, are all persons living in private households, excluding in general the persons living in collective households and in institutions from the target population.
Context
The EU is a major tourist destination, with 6 EU countries among the world's top 10 destinations for holidaymakers, according to UN Tourism[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)
Database
- Tourism (tour), see "Trips of EU residents - annual data", "Participation in tourism".
Thematic section
Publications
Selected datasets
- Tourism (t_tour), see "Annual data on trips of EU residents":
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
- 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 (EU) No 692/2011 concerning European statistics on tourism, as regards the structure of the quality reports and the transmission of the data