(CN) — Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic pulled the plug on the European Union’s vibrant visitor industry, tourism reached record rates of annual nightly stays last year, according to data published Tuesday by Eurostat.
Tourism is one of several economic indicators being tracked by the EU to quantify member states' recovery from the tolls wrought by the coronavirus that infected more than 773 million people globally, including 278 million Europeans. According to the World Health Organization, Europe mourned 2.2 million deaths from Covid-19. To date, the organization has attributed 7 million deaths to the disease worldwide.
Before the pandemic, the United Nations World Tourism Organization reported Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal among the world's top tourist destinations.
In early 2020, European nations largely shut down travel and closed businesses to curb the spread of the disease. In May 2021 as vaccines became widely available, the European economy began to resume regular business.
In 2023, tourist accommodation establishments — mainly hotels — reported visitors spent 1.92 billion nights in Europe, a 1.6% increase from pre-pandemic levels and up 6% from 2022.
Between 2013 and 2023, European tourism grew by 25%, with an increase of 600 million nights spent at hotels during that period. Although the gap is decreasing, domestic tourism account for 54% of nights spent at tourist lodgings last year compared with visitors from abroad.
Tourism trip data indicates summer months are the most popular times to visit Europe, although many also travel in December.
Nearly two-thirds of European tourists stayed at hotels last year, while 24% booked short-stay accommodations — condos, cottages, cabins and the like — and 13% chose campsites. The EU is seeing a growing number of visitors staying in short-term rentals as reported by Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and TripAdvisor, with a 13% increase in bookings between the third quarters of 2023 and 2022.
Between 2022 and 2023, all members of the European Union reported increases in tourists, with the exception of Luxembourg which experienced a slight decline.
Ten member states reported visitor increases over 10% last year, including Malta and Cyprus which each topped 20%. Germany and Spain reported the greatest increase in tourist nights, with more than 32 million more bookings each than the year prior.
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