EU Had Its Best Tourism Year Yet in 2024

Tourists to the EU countries have spent over three million overnight stays at accommodation spots, which shows an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

In general, the number of overnight stays has increased by over 60 million nights and international tourists spent about 67.2 million nights in these spots in 2024, Schengen.News reports. 

While the number of international tourists rose by 4.9 per cent, the EU saw fewer domestic guests travelling to the EU, as the number of overnight stays dropped by 1.8 million or 0.1 per cent. 

Spain Was the Most Visited Destination 
With 500 million overnight stays, Spain has represented the country with the highest number of nights spent at a tourist accommodation spot in 2024. 

The second to follow was Italy with 458 million overnight stays, while France and Germany received 451 million and 441 million nights spent by tourists to accommodation facilities of these countries. The four countries represent 61.6 per cent of the total nights spent in the EU. 

On the other hand, in terms of numbers, the countries with the lowest number of tourist nights were Malta, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Luxembourg. However, compared to 2023, some of these countries witnessed a surge in tourist nights spent by visitors.

Tourism Nights Up in Nearly All EU Countries in Q4 2024 
The last quarter of 2024, representing the period between October and December of 2024, was a successful season for EU countries. 

The number of tourism nights in these countries during the fourth quarter was up almost in each country, with Malta witnessing the biggest increase.

Ireland witnessed a decrease in the number of tourist nights spent there in the fourth quarter of 2024, representing the only country that experienced a drop. Belgium did not have a big change but remains on the positive side. 

Counties like Belgium, France and Luxembourg saw a drop in the number of tourist nights spent in accommodation places recorded in 2024 compared to 2023.

Source: https://schengen.news/eu-had-its-best-tourism-year-yet-in-2024/