Archive:European Neighbourhood Policy - East - tourism statistics

Data extracted in December 2019.

Planned article update: April 2021.

Highlights

There were more than 300 000 bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries in 2018, compared with 14 million in the EU-28.

In 2018, almost 8 million non-residents arrived in the tourist accommodation establishments of the European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries, compared with 435 million in the EU-28.

Between 2008 and 2018, the fastest increase in arrivals of non-resident tourists among the European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries was in Georgia, where the number was 25 times higher in 2018 than in 2008.

Between 2008 and 2018, the number of trips taken abroad increased in all European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries, with the highest increase recorded for tourist trips from Azerbaijan.

Developments for arrivals of non-residents staying in tourist accommodation establishments, 2008-2018

This article is part of an online publication and presents information relating to tourism in the European Union (EU) and in the six countries that together form the European Neighbourhood Policy-East (ENP-East) region, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Data shown for Georgia exclude the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia over which Georgia does not exercise control and the data shown for Moldova exclude areas over which the government of the Republic of Moldova does not exercise control. The latest data for Ukraine generally exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the territories which are not under control of the Ukrainian government (see specific footnotes for precise coverage).

This article highlights recent developments concerning the number of bed places in hotels and similar establishments, the number of arrivals of non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments and the number of outbound trips made by tourists.

Full article

Tourism infrastructure

There were more than 300 000 bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the ENP-East countries; more than two fifths of these were in Ukraine

The number of bed places available in hotels and similar establishments provides one measure of a country’s capacity to attract tourists; note that official tourism statistics include business travellers as tourists alongside individuals travelling for pleasure or other reasons. In 2018, the six ENP-East countries had a combined total of 314 000 bed places (the latest information for Armenia refers to 2014). By comparison, there were 14.1 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the EU-28 in 2018.

Table 1: Number of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation establishments, 2008-2018
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat)

Among the ENP-East countries, Ukraine had by far the highest number of bed places in hotels and similar establishments, at 135 000 in 2018, which equated to 43 % of the total number of bed places available within the six ENP-East countries. Note that the large fall between 2013 and 2014 in the number of bed places in Ukraine shown in Table 1 reflects to a large extent the change in geographical coverage of Ukrainian data, in particular the exclusion of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. The next largest number of bed places among ENP-East countries was in Georgia, where there were 73 000 in 2018.

Aside from Ukraine, the number of bed places grew in all of the ENP-East countries during the last decade

Figure 1 provides information on the development of the number of bed places in hotels and similar establishments over the period 2008-2018. Note that the development for Ukraine is influenced by a break in series in 2011 and a change in the geographical coverage in 2014. With the exception of Ukraine, all of the remaining ENP-East countries reported a marked expansion in their bed capacity during the period shown, with the number of bed places quadrupling in Georgia. For comparison, there was an overall increase of 16.2 % in the total number of bed places available across the EU-28 in hotels and similar establishments between 2008 and 2018.

Figure 1: Developments for bed places in hotels and similar establishments, 2008-2018
(2008 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat)

Figure 2 presents an alternative measure for analysing the number of bed places in hotels and similar establishments, showing this information in relation to the total area of each country. It illustrates that there was a considerably higher density of bed places per square kilometre (km²) in the EU-28 than any of the six ENP-East countries. Indeed, with an average of 3.2 bed places per km² in 2018, the EU-28 had a ratio that was more than three times as high as that in Georgia, which posted the highest density among the ENP-East countries (1.0 bed places per km²). Note that the number of bed places in Moldova and Ukraine has a narrower geographical coverage than the area and as such the calculation of this density ratio produces underestimates.

Figure 2: Density of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation establishments, 2008 and 2018
(number of bed places per km² of total area)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat) and (reg_area3)

A final analysis for the number of bed places is presented in Figure 3: it compares the number of bed places in hotels and similar establishments with the number of inhabitants in each country. Using this measure, the EU-28 again recorded a higher capacity of bed places than any of the ENP-East countries. There were, on average, 27.5 bed places in hotels and similar establishments per 1 000 inhabitants across the EU-28 in 2018. This was about two fifths higher than the ratio recorded in Georgia (19.5 bed places per 1 000 inhabitants) and nearly six times as high as the ratio in Azerbaijan (4.7 bed places per 1 000 inhabitants) which was the next highest ratio among the ENP-East countries. The fastest expansion among the ENP-East countries in the number of bed places per 1 000 inhabitants between the years shown in Figure 3 was clearly in Georgia, where the number of bed places relative to the population was 4.8 times as high in 2018 as it had been in 2008.

Figure 3: Capacity of bed places in hotels and similar accommodation establishments, 2008 and 2018
(number of bed places per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat) and (demo_pjan)

Non-resident arrivals

Some 7.8 million non-residents arrived in tourist accommodation establishments in the ENP-East countries

In 2018, there were 7.8 million arrivals of non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments across the six ENP-East countries. This figure could be compared with a total of 435 million arrivals of non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments in the EU-28 in 2018 (see Table 2). Non-resident arrivals in the six ENP-East countries in 2018 were equivalent to 1.8 % of the EU-28 total in 2018. Indeed, the EU is a major tourist destination: according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, five EU Member States (France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom) were among the world’s top 10 destinations in 2018 — both in terms of international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts.

Table 2: Number of arrivals of non-residents staying in tourist accommodation establishments, 2008-2018
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_arnat)

Figure 4 shows the development of the number of arrivals of non-residents staying in tourist accommodation establishments during the period 2008-2018. There was an increase in the number of arrivals of non-residents in the six ENP-East countries, except for Ukraine where the number fell greatly in 2014; at least part of the reduction could be attributed to changes in the geographical coverage of the data. The fastest expansion in the number of arrivals of non-residents was recorded in Georgia, as the number of arrivals in 2018 was 25 times as high as it was in 2008. Although much slower, the pace of growth for non-resident tourist arrivals was also considerable in Azerbaijan, as its number was 5.5 times as high in 2018 as in 2008, while in Armenia it trebled during the same period and in Belarus and Moldova the number of arrivals more than doubled.

Figure 4: Developments for arrivals of non-residents staying in tourist accommodation establishments, 2008-2018
(2008 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_arnat)

Figure 5 shows the number of arrivals of non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments relative to the number of (resident) inhabitants. In the EU-28 there were 849 arrivals of non-residents per 1 000 inhabitants in 2018. Among the ENP-East countries, the ratio of non-resident arrivals to population was consistently lower than in the EU-28. The highest value was recorded for Georgia, with 701 non-resident arrivals per 1 000 inhabitants in 2018 (arrivals in hotels and similar establishments only), while there were less than 50 non-resident arrivals per 1 000 inhabitants in Moldova and Ukraine. The number of non-resident arrivals relative to population increased at a relatively fast pace in several of the ENP-East countries during the most recent 10-year period. The largest gain in relative terms was recorded in Georgia, where this ratio was 30 times as high in 2018 as it had been in 2008 (again based on arrivals in hotels and similar establishments only).

Figure 5: Arrivals of non-residents in tourist accommodation establishments relative to resident population, 2008 and 2018
(arrivals of non-residents per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_arnat) and (demo_pjan)

Outbound tourism

The number of outbound trips taken by tourists from Ukraine reached 27.8 million in 2018

This final section details the outward flow of tourists travelling abroad. EU-28 tourists made 284 million non-domestic trips in 2017; note that EU-28 data for this particular indicator only refer to persons aged 15 years and over and do not include data for the United Kingdom.

By contrast, among the five ENP-East countries for which data are available (no information for Georgia) the highest number of outbound trips taken by tourists was recorded for Ukraine — the most populous of the ENP-East countries — at 27.8 million in 2018. There were 4.1 million outbound trips made by tourists from Azerbaijan in 2018, while the number of outbound trips from Armenia was 1.6 million, from Belarus it was 0.8 million (data refer only to organised visits) and from Moldova it was 0.3 million (see Table 3).

Table 3: Number of trips taken by outbound tourists, 2008-2018
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_tttot)

Developments for the number of outbound tourist trips between 2008 and 2018 are shown in Figure 6. There was a rapid expansion in the number of outbound tourist trips from Azerbaijan, with the most recent number of outbound tourists 3.9 times as high as in 2008. For Armenia and Moldova there were also substantial increases, with their numbers of outbound tourists in 2018 some 3.1 times as high as they had been 10 years earlier. The number of organised outbound visits made by tourists from Belarus fluctuated considerably between 2008 and 2011, before recovering somewhat in 2012, 2013 and 2014, falling again in 2015 and 2016 and increasing once more in 2017 and 2018: overall the number of organised outbound tourist visits was more than twice as high in 2018 as in 2008. For Ukraine there was a more stable but modest increase in the number of outbound tourist trips between 2008 and 2018, interrupted by a slight fall in 2009 and a larger fall in 2014 (when there was a change in coverage of the data): overall the number of trips increased by almost 80 % between 2008 and 2018.

Figure 6: Developments for the number of trips taken by outbound tourists, 2008-2018
(2008 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_tttot)

Figure 7 presents the number of outbound trips taken by tourists relative to the resident population. In the EU-28 there were, on average, 636 trips per 1 000 inhabitants in 2017; note that this ratio relates to persons aged 15 years and over and does not include data for the United Kingdom.

Figure 7: Number of trips taken by outbound tourists relative to population, 2008 and 2018
(average number of trips per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_tttot) and (demo_pjan)

Ukraine recorded the highest number of outbound trips per 1 000 inhabitants among the ENP-East countries, at 656 trips per 1 000 inhabitants in 2018, slightly higher than the ratio for the EU-28. The latest information for Ukraine was higher than that recorded in Armenia (546 per 1 000 inhabitants) or Azerbaijan (414) which had the next highest ratios. The ratio of the number of trips made by outbound tourists relative to the population was considerably lower in Belarus (88; organised outbound tourist visits) and Moldova (74).

Source data for tables and graphs

European Neighbourhood Policy — East countries — tourism: tables and figures

Data sources

The data for ENP-East countries are supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authorities of each country on a voluntary basis. The data result from an annual data collection cycle that has been established by Eurostat. These statistics are available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website, together with a range of additional indicators for ENP-East countries covering most socio-economic topics.

Tourism, in a statistical context, refers to the activity of visitors taking a trip to a destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year. It can be for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal reasons other than to be employed in the place visited. A tourist is a visitor that stays overnight (at least one night).

Within the EU, a system of tourism statistics was established through Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism. This legal basis requires EU Member States to provide a regular set of comparable tourism statistics. Following amendments in 2004 and 2006, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 concerning European statistics on tourism in 2011 (repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC).

Tourism statistics in the EU consist of two main components: on the one hand, statistics relating to capacity and occupancy (supply-side tourism statistics); on the other, statistics relating to tourism demand. In most EU Member States, the former are collected via surveys filled in by accommodation establishments, while the latter are mainly collected via traveller surveys at border crossings or through household surveys. Statistics on tourism demand refer to tourist participation, in other words, trips of at least one overnight stay during the reference period.

Tables in this article use the following notation:

Value in italics	data value is forecasted, provisional or estimated and is therefore likely to change;
:	not available, confidential or unreliable value;
–	not applicable.

Context

Tourism has the potential to contribute towards employment and economic growth, as well as to the development of rural, coastal, peripheral or less-developed areas. Infrastructure created for tourism purposes contributes to local development, while jobs that are created or maintained can help counteract industrial or rural decline. Sustainable tourism involves the preservation and enhancement of cultural and natural heritage, ranging from the arts to local gastronomy or the preservation of biodiversity.

On 18 November 2015, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission jointly presented a review of the European Neighbourhood Policy (SWD(2015) 500 final) which underlined a new approach for the EU in relation to its eastern and southern neighbours, based on stabilising the region in political, economic, and security-related terms.

In cooperation with its ENP partners, Eurostat has the responsibility ‘to promote and implement the use of European and internationally recognised standards and methodology for the production of statistics necessary for developing and monitoring policy achievements in all policy areas’. Eurostat undertakes the task of coordinating EU efforts to increase the statistical capacity of the ENP countries. Additional information on the policy context of the ENP is provided here.