Looking at the past two years, COVID-19-related measures took their toll on many economic sectors, including tourism. In the EU, data show the staggering impact on international and domestic tourism with the domestic side resisting the impact of the pandemic measures slightly better.
The first lockdown in the Spring of 2020 set tourism almost to zero. The partial recovery in the number of arrivals at tourist accommodation during the summer of 2020 was driven by domestic demand, with many people deciding to go for ‘staycations’ in their home countries.
Compared with July and August 2019, domestic arrivals at EU tourist accommodation were down 9% in July and August 2020, while the decrease for inbound international arrivals was considerably greater, at 65%. In the same period, hotels and similar accommodation was the accommodation category most affected (-39%), followed by holiday and other short-stay accommodation (-31%). The smallest impact of the pandemic was felt by camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks (-13%).
Source dataset: tour_occ_arm
Combined July and August figures for 2021 show a 55% increase in international arrivals and 15% for domestic arrivals compared with those for 2020. In terms of accommodation, the largest increases were for hotels and similar accommodation (+29%) and holiday and other short-stay accommodation (+25%); the increase observed for camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks was 11%.
Compared with 2019, combined July and August figures for 2021 were down 45% for international arrivals but up 4% for domestic arrivals. The largest decreases were still for hotels and similar accommodation (-22%) and holiday and other short-stay accommodation (-13%), with camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks down 4%.
Source dataset: tour_occ_arm
Combined figures for the first quarter of 2022 indicate significant increases compared with the same quarter of 2021: domestic arrivals more than doubled, and international arrivals increased six-fold. However good these signs are, these results were still below previously registered levels. Compared with 2019, before the pandemic hit, domestic arrivals decreased by 21%, and international arrivals were down by 42%.
You can find further information on tourism and the business economy in Europe in the recently released 2022 edition of Key Figures on European Business — Statistics Illustrated.
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