From 28 to 30 November 2018, the biennial Global Forum on Tourism Statistics – a joint initiative of Eurostat and the OECD – will take place for the first time in Latin America. The 15th Global Forum is hosted by Peru, a good occasion to take a closer look at tourism relations between Europe and this part of the world.
Italy and Spain are the preferred countries in the EU for tourists from Central and South America
In 2017, tourists from Central and South America spent nearly 30 million nights in tourist accommodation establishments across the European Union (EU), of which nearly 12 million nights by tourists from Brazil. The main destination countries in the EU were Italy (6.5 million nights), Spain (6.4 million), the UK (4.7 million), France (3.4 million) and Portugal (2.6 million, of which 2.3 million from Portuguese speaking Brazil).
EU residents made 6.7 million trips to Central and South America, of which nearly 300 thousand to Peru
Although EU residents largely travel to European destinations (94% of all tourist trips), in 2017 they also made over 50 million trips to destinations outside Europe. The preferred continent was America (19.4 million trips), closely followed by Asia (17 million trips).
In 2017, EU residents made 6.7 million trips to Central and South America - an average of over 18,000 trips per day. The most popular destinations were Mexico (17% of all trips to Central and South America), Cuba (14%), the Dominican Republic (13%) and Brazil (12%). These 6.7 million trips accounted for nearly 111 million nights and €13.7 billion spent (including international travel).
Almost three out of four EU residents visiting Central and South America came from either Germany (29%), the United Kingdom (20%), France (12%) or Spain (12%).
Focusing on the Global Forum host country Peru, EU residents made 294 thousand tourist trips to Peru in 2017, corresponding to 5.3 million nights (or an average duration of 18 nights per trip) and spent €773 million on these trips.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on Tourism Statistics - EU and Central and South America
- Eurostat webpage on tourism statistics.
To contact us: estat-user-support@ec.europa.eu