EU tourism nights mark 6.1% yearly increase in 2023

In 2023, the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation reached 2.9 billion. This represents a 6.1% increase compared with 2022 and a 1.4% increase compared with the pre-pandemic 2019. 

This information comes from monthly data on tourist accommodation up to December 2023 published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.   

In 2023, 24 out of 25 EU countries with available data surpassed the levels of 2022 in terms of nights spent. The most significant increases were recorded in Malta and Cyprus, with both countries experiencing an increase of 20% in nights spent compared with 2022, followed by Slovakia with an increase of 16%. A small decline in the number of nights was recorded in Luxembourg (-1%).

Source dataset: tour_occ_ninat

Slovakia and Czechia recorded the highest growth in terms of nights spent by international guests, with both countries experiencing an increase of 29% in 2023 compared with 2022. The Netherlands and Romania followed, each with a 23% increase. At the other end of the range, Luxembourg saw a stable number of nights spent by international guests (0%), while Croatia recorded a modest growth of 2%.

In terms of domestic guests, Greece recorded the highest increase in the number of nights spent, with a rise of 13% in 2023 compared with 2022, followed by Slovakia (+11%) and Bulgaria (+9%). The largest drops in nights spent by domestic guests were observed in Slovenia (-17%), Hungary (-5%), and Luxembourg (-4%).

Exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2023

When looking at a broader time frame, the data reveals a rebound in tourism nights from spring 2022 onwards. By May 2022, the number of nights spent at tourist accommodations approached pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, only March (-4%), June (-2%), July (-1%), and November (-1%) witnessed a decline in numbers compared with 2019. Despite these fluctuations, the overall trend for 2023 indicated an increase in total number of nights spent, reaching a record number of nights spent and approaching 3 billion annual nights.

Source dataset: tour_occ_nim