Archive:Enlargement countries - tourism statistics

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Highlights

There were more than 1.8 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the EU candidate countries and potential candidates in 2020, with 1.6 million in Turkey alone. In comparison, there were 11.9 million in the EU.

Aside from Montenegro, the number of hotel bed places grew in all of the EU candidate countries and potential candidates from 2010 to 2020. However, from 2019 to 2020, the number decreased by 39% in Montenegro and 20% in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2020, almost 14.0 million tourists arrived at hotels in the EU candidate countries and potential candidates. This was more than two thirds (-69%) less than the 44.4 million arrivals in 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, with sharp falls in all of these countries.

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This article is part of an online publication and provides information on a range of tourism statistics for the European Union (EU) and candidate countries and potential candidates, otherwise known as the enlargement countries. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Turkey currently have candidate status, while Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo* are potential candidates.

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

Tourism plays an important role because of its economic and employment potential, as well as its social and environmental implications. Tourism statistics are not only used to monitor tourism policies but also regional and sustainable development policies.

Full article

Tourism infrastructure

There were more than 1.8 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the candidate countries and potential candidates in 2020; almost 88 % of these were in Turkey

The number of bed places available in hotels and similar tourist accommodation establishments provides one measure of a country’s capacity to attract tourists. In this context, it should be noted that official tourism statistics include business travellers as tourists, alongside individuals travelling for pleasure or other reasons. In 2020, the tourism sector in the seven EU candidate countries and potential candidates offered a combined total of more than 1.8 million bed places. By comparison, there were 11.9 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the EU in 2020. In Turkey alone, there were 1.6 million bed places available, 88 % of the total among these countries. The second largest capacity was found in Albania with 82 000 bed places, corresponding to 5 % of the total, and the third highest found in Serbia (57 000; 3%). The capacity of bed places was roughly at the same level in Bosnia and Herzegovina (28 000), North Macedonia (24 000) and Montenegro (23 000), with Kosovo* at around half of this level (12 000).

Table 1: Bed places in hotels and similar accommodation establishments, 2010-2020
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat) and national data

Aside from in Montenegro, the number of hotel bed places offered increased in all of the candidate countries and potential candidates in the decade from 2010 to 2020.

Throughout the decade from 2010 to 2020, Turkey was by far the largest supplier of tourism capacity, in terms of the number of bed places available in hotels and similar accommodation, among the candidate countries and potential candidates. However, Turkey is also a much larger country than the others. As can be seen in Figure 1, in 2020 the tourism sector was much more important in Montenegro (36.2 bed places per thousand inhabitants) and Albania (28.9) than in Turkey (19.0), when the capacity in bed places in hotels are measured relative to the population size. Measured like this, the tourism sector also had higher importance in the EU (26.6) than in Turkey. All of these countries, as the EU, can offer tourism in mountain regions as well as in coastal regions with beaches, in addition to sites of historical and cultural interest, thus offering a wide range of tourism types. The relative capacity of bed places was at a lower level in North Macedonia (11.7), Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (both 8.2) as well as Kosovo (6.4).

Compared to 2010, the number of bed places relative to the population size had increased in all of the candidate countries and potential candidates by 2020, with Montenegro the only exception with a decrease by one third (-34 %) from 54.6 bed places per thousand inhabitants in 2010 to 36.2 in 2020. In contrast, the bed place capacity in Albania increased by 601 % from 4.1 in 2010 to 28.9 in 2020. As comparison, the relative capacity in the EU increased by 5 % from 25.4 to 26.6 in the same period.

Figure 1: Bed place capacity in hotels and similar establishments, 2010-2020
(bed places per thousand inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat), (demo_gind) and national data

Figure 2 shows that the number of bed places in the candidate countries and potential candidates followed quite different development paths throughout the decade 2010-2020. As the only one, the number of bed places in North Macedonia increased each year of the period. All the others experienced years in which the number of bed places declined. In particular, the number of bed places offered decreased compared with the previous year in both 2012 and 2013 in Albania and Montenegro; the same applied to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia in 2011, Turkey in 2013 and 2016, Montenegro and Serbia also in 2015 and Kosovo in 2017 (data only available from 2016 onwards).

A striking feature is the sharp fall in the number of bed places offered in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2019 to 2020; the EU also registered a decline in this period, although substantially smaller. This might reflect the first effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the accommodation capacity for travellers, in the form of reduced number of bed places.

It should be noted that in Figure 2, data for Albania are not available for 2016-2017, and the index for the period 2018-2020 is too high to be presented within this Figure; these index values were 575, 650 and 683, respectively.

Figure 2: Bed places in hotels and similar establishments, 2010-2020
(index 2010 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_nat) and national data

Non-resident arrivals

Almost 14.0 million non-residents arrived at hotels and similar establishments in the candidate and potential candidate countries in 2020, down 69 % compared to the year before due to the Covid-19 pandemic

In 2020, there were 14.0 million arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments across the candidate countries and potential candidates (see Table 2). This represented a fall by more than two-thirds (69 %) compared to 2019, there were 44.4 million arrivals. The strict restrictions on travel and tourism introduced in most countries in 2020 to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus had immediate effects. All of the candidate countries and potential candidates recorded a sharp decrease in the number of non-resident tourists arriving at hotels and similar establishments; Montenegro and North Macedonia both recorded decreases of 84 %, with Bosnia and Herzegovina (-83 %) and Serbia (-80 %) almost experiences equally dramatic falls. Turkey, which has the by far largest tourism sector among these countries, experienced a slightly lower fall in arrivals of non-residents, by two thirds (-67 %). Albeit slightly less dramatic, the number of arrivals fell by -62 % in Albania and -52 % in Kosovo between 2019 and 2020.

The number of arrivals of non-residents had been growing steadily in Turkey, from 14.2 million arrivals in 2016 to 38.8 million in 2019, before falling to 12.8 million in 2020. This still corresponded to 91.6 % to all arrivals of non-residents in the candidate countries and potential candidates in 2020. Serbia recorded a fall from 1.6 million arrivals in 2019 to 329 000 in 2020, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1.1 million to 189 000 and Montenegro from 1.1 million to 179 000. Albania recorded 281 000 arrivals in 2020 (down from 736 000 in 2019), North Macedonia 115 000 (from 725 000) and Kosovo 85 000 (down from 177 000).

In comparison, there was a total of 316 million arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments in the EU in 2019; 2020 data are not yet available.

Table 2: Arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments, 2010-2020
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_tour_occ_arnat) and (tour_occ_arnat)

Figure 3 compares the number of arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments relative to the number of (resident) inhabitants between 2010 and 2020. In order to better reflect the extraordinary effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism in 2020, Figure 3 also includes 2019 data for direct comparison. Relative to the population, the tourism sector had the highest importance in Montenegro with 287 arrivals per thousand inhabitants in 2020. This was sharply down from 1 805 in 2019, and also far lower than the 760 arrivals per thousand inhabitants registered a decade earlier in 2010. Turkey also recorded a dramatic fall from 2019 to 2020, from 470 to 153, respectively; the 2020 figure was lower than the 2010 figure (345) also for Turkey. The arrivals of non-residents declined strongly from 2019 to 2020 also in Albania (from 258 to 99), North Macedonia (from 349 to 55), Bosnia and Herzegovina (from 326 to 54), Serbia (from 234 to 48) and Kosovo (from 99 to 48). Kosovo was the only where the number of non-resident arrivals per thousand inhabitants was higher in 2020 (48) than it had been in 2010 (17).

In the EU, there were 708 arrivals of non-residents per thousand inhabitants in 2019; 2020 data are not yet available. In 2010, the EU had welcomed 473 arrivals of non-residents per thousand inhabitants.

Figure 3: Arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments, 2010, 2019 and 2020
(arrivals per thousand inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_arnat), (demo_gind) and national data

The index based on 2010 data on the number of arrivals of non-resident at hotels and similar, presented in Figure 4, shows the development in the candidate countries and potential candidates from 2010 to 2020. Generally, the trend was upwards year-on-year, with only some instances of decline compared to the previous year.

The sharp fall in arrivals from 2019 to 2020 can be clearly seen for all the candidate countries and potential candidates, with large chutes for all. Particular stark falls can be seen for Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. However, it should be noted that the number of arrivals in Kosovo already fell in 2019; thus, there may have been additional factors contributing to the sharp decline, in addition to the direct effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism.

Figure 4: Arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments, 2010-2020
(index 2010 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_arnat) and national data

Outbound tourism

Tourists and other travellers from Turkey made almost 9.7 million outbound trips in 2019

Table 3 presents the most recent available data on the outward flow of tourists travelling abroad from the candidate countries and potential candidates and from the EU. Data are not available for the potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Among the five candidate countries for which data are available, the highest number of outbound tourist trips was recorded for Turkey, the most populous of these countries, with 9.7 million in 2019. There were 1.0 million outbound trips made by tourists from Albania (2017 data), 846 000 from Serbia (2018 data), 546 000 from Montenegro (2017 data) and 377 000 from North Macedonia.

Considering the share of the population that went on outbound tourism trips shows a quite different picture. By far the highest share of the population going abroad on tourism trip was recorded in Montenegro (2017 data) with 87.8 % of the population going on such trips. At a far lower level was Albania, with 36.2 % (2017 data). The population of North Macedonia (18.2 %), Serbia (12.1 %; 2018 data) and Turkey (11.7 %) went abroad to a much lower degree. The EU was the destination for around two thirds of the outbound trips made by the inhabitants of most of these countries. Tourists from North Macedonia travelled to an EU Member States on 70 % of their outbound trips; in Serbia this share was 69 % (2018 data) and in Albania 67 % (2017 data).

EU tourists made 311 million non-domestic trips in 2019; 71 % of these trips, or 222 million trips, went to other EU Member States. Note that EU data for this particular indicator are estimates and only refer to persons aged 15 years or older.

Table 3: Outgoing trips by residents, for all purposes, for one night or more, 2019
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_tttot), (tour_dem_ttw), (demo_gind) and national data

Employment in the tourism sector

In Serbia and Turkey, the persons employed in the air transport sector were younger than in the general economy. The tourism sector is an important source of employment in many regions, also within the candidate countries and potential candidates. Figure 5 shows the age structure of the employees in the overall economy and compares this with the age structure within three specific sub-sectors of the tourism sector: air transport (NACE Rev. 2 division H.51); accommodation (NACE Rev. 2 division I.55), which covers hotels and similar establishments as well as other holiday and short-stay accommodation and camping grounds and recreational vehicle parks; and travel agencies (NACE Rev. 2 division N.79), which covers travel agencies, tour operators and other reservation services and related activities.

Data on the characteristics of the persons employed in the tourism sector are available for the EU and for several candidate countries and potential candidates through the Labour force survey (LFS).

In the EU, the age structure of the persons employed in these three sections of the tourism sector are not very different from the overall economy. In the general economy, 46 % of the persons employed are aged 25-44 years and 47 % aged 45 years or older in 2021. In comparison, in air transport 50 % are aged 25-44 years and 46 % aged 45 years or older; in accommodation, 45 % aged 25-44 years and 45 % aged 45 years or older; and in travel agencies and similar, 50 % aged 25-44 years and 44 % or older.

For Montenegro, data (2020 data) are only available for the total economy and the accommodation sector. This shows that, whereas 50 % of the persons employed in the general economy were aged 25-44 years, whereas only 33 % of the persons employed in the accommodation sector was aged 25-34 years; however, data on the age group 35-44 years are missing while there is a relatively large proportion of persons employed (23 %) for which the age group is not known.

In North Macedonia (2020 data), the share of employed aged 25-44 years is almost the same in the general economy (53 %) as in the accommodation sector (54 %). In the travel agencies sector, 53 % of the employed are reported to be in the age group 25-34 year. However, information on the age groups 35-44 years and 44-55 years are missing, whereas the group of employed persons with unknown age is 24 %.

For Serbia, 49 % of the employed in the economy were aged 25-44 years in 2021, with 6 % aged even younger (in the group aged 15-24 years). In contrast, the air transport sector in Serbia employed a substantially younger staff, with 64 % of the employed aged 25-44 years. However, there is no information on persons employed from the 15-24 years age group. The age structure of the accommodation sector is more in line with the general economy, with 49 % of the persons employed aged 25-44 years. For the travel agencies sector, it is reported that 38 % of the persons employed are aged 35-44 years, but there is a large group (62 %) with unknown age.

In Turkey (2020 data), the persons employed are in general younger than in the other countries; 55 % of the persons employed were in the age group 25-44 years, with a relatively high share of even younger employees aged 15-24 years (13 %). Whereas the accommodation sector and travel agency sector shoved similar structures, with respectively 59 % and 65 % of employed persons aged 25-44 years and 12 % and 10 % aged 15-24 years, the air transport sector stood out with a relatively large group of young persons employed: in 2020, 85 % of the persons employed were aged 25-44 (51 % 25-34 years and 34 % aged 35-44 years). However, only 4 % of the persons employed were younger.

Figure 5: Employment in tourism activities, by age groups, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_lfs2r2)

The tourism sector is often characterised by high seasonality, with the level of employment varying over the year. This may lead to a relatively high share of limited employment contracts for the persons employed in this sector. From the LFS, data are available on this aspect for the accommodation sector for the EU and Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. In Turkey and North Macedonia (both 2020 data), most of the persons employed in the accommodation sector enjoyed an unlimited employment contract: in Turkey 88.4 % and in North Macedonia 83.3 %. The corresponding shares with only limited employment contracts were 11.6 % and 16.7 %, respectively. In the EU, the share of employed in the accommodation sector with only a limited contract was almost one quarter (23.9 %) and in Serbia almost one third (30.3 %) (both 2021 data). The most limited employment perspectives were experienced by those employed in the accommodation sector in Montenegro, where 41.1 % had only a limited employment contract (2020 data).

Figure 6: Permanency of jobs in the accommodation sector, by type of contract, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_lfs4r2)

In the tourism sector, there is in many cases a quite high turnover of the persons employed, reflected in a relatively large share of persons employed that have stayed in the same job with the same employer for more than two years. There may be different reasons for this, including the salary level, the extent of limited contracts, the seasonality of the work, or the elasticity with respect to external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Data for 2021 for the EU, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, presented in Figure 7, show that almost one third of the staff in the accommodation sector had worked less than 2 years for the same employer in the same job in the EU (31.7 %), Serbia (32.9 %) and Montenegro (32.1 %; 2020 data). This share was substantially higher in Turkey (43.1 %; 2020 data) but lower in North Macedonia (23.1 %; 2020 data).

Figure 7: Seniority of work with the same employer and activity, accommodation services, by category of seniority
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_lfs5r2)

Source data for tables and graphs

Enlargement countries — tourism statistics: tables and figures

Data sources

Data for the candidate countries and potential candidates are collected for a wide range of indicators each year through a questionnaire that is sent by Eurostat to candidate countries or potential candidates. A network of contacts has been established for updating these questionnaires, generally within the national statistical offices, but potentially including representatives of other data-producing organisations (for example, central banks or government ministries). The statistics shown in this article are made available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website, together with a wide range of other socio-economic indicators collected as part of this initiative.

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. The Directive was amended in 2004 and 2006, before being repealed in 2011 when the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 concerning European statistics on tourism. The 2011 Regulation on tourism statistics was amended in 2013, in 2019 and again in 2020; the current consolidated version of Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 incorporate all these amendments.

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.

Although the candidate countries and potential candidates produce some of these statistics on tourism capacity, occupancy and tourism demand and provide these to Eurostat, tourism data availability is still quite limited compared to that of the EU Member States.

Within the European Statistical System, statistics on the capacity of collective tourist accommodation include the number of establishments, the number of bedrooms and the number of bed places. These statistics are available by establishment type or by region and are compiled annually. Statistics on the occupancy of collective tourist accommodation refer to the number of arrivals (at accommodation establishments) and the number of nights spent by residents and non-residents, by establishment type or region; annual and monthly statistical series are available. In addition, statistics on the use of bedrooms and bed places (occupancy rates) are compiled.

Statistics on tourism demand in the EU are collected in relation to the number of tourism trips made (and the number of nights spent on those trips). The data are also analysed by the socio-demographic characteristics of the tourist.

Data from a range of other official sources may be used to study tourism. These statistics include:

structural business statistics (SBS) and short-term business statistics (STS) which may be used to provide additional information on tourism flows and on the economic performance of certain tourism-related sectors;
data on employment in the tourism accommodation sector from the labour force survey (LFS), analysed by working time (full/part-time), working status, age, level of education, sex, permanency and seniority of work with the same employer (annual and quarterly data);
data on personal travel receipts and expenditure from the balance of payments;
transport statistics (for example, air passenger transport).

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.

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.

While basic principles and institutional frameworks for producing statistics are already in place, the candidate countries and potential candidates are expected to increase progressively the volume and quality of their data and to transmit these data to Eurostat in the context of the EU enlargement process. EU standards in the field of statistics require the existence of a statistical infrastructure based on principles such as professional independence, impartiality, relevance, confidentiality of individual data and easy access to official statistics; they cover methodology, classifications and standards for production.

Eurostat has the responsibility to ensure that statistical production of the candidate countries and potential candidates complies with the EU acquis in the field of statistics. To do so, Eurostat supports the national statistical offices and other producers of official statistics through a range of initiatives, such as pilot surveys, training courses, traineeships, study visits, workshops and seminars, and participation in meetings within the European Statistical System (ESS). The ultimate goal is the provision of harmonised, high-quality data that conforms to European and international standards.

Additional information on statistical cooperation with the enlargement countries is provided here.

Notes

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.