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Europeans are travelling again – but not equally everywhere

In 2023, 65% of EU residents aged 15 and over took at least one private trip – whether it was for a holiday, a short break, or to visit friends and family. That’s the same level as before the pandemic hit. After a drop in travel during the COVID years (52% in 2020), things are clearly bouncing back – slowly but surely.

But not all countries are equal when it comes to travel. Leading the way are the French, with a whopping 84.6% of people taking at least one trip in 2023. Close behind are the Dutch, Luxembourgers, and Finns – all scoring over 80%.

Countries like Ireland, Austria, Czechia, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark also had high travel rates, all above 70%.

Poland? We’re somewhere in the middle of the pack, just about matching the EU average.

At the other end of the spectrum, only 26.8% of Romanians traveled in 2023. Less than half of people in Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Portugal took a trip, too.

Eurostat

Luxembourgers Lead in International Travel

In total, people in the EU took over 1.1 billion trips last year – both personal and business-related. That’s up 60% from 2020, and even slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Most trips were short – between one and three nights – and nearly 73% stayed within the traveler’s home country. Only about a quarter (27.2%) were international trips.

But again, there are big differences between countries. In Luxembourg, a staggering 94% of trips were abroad. Belgians weren’t far behind (75.4%), followed by Maltese, Slovenians, and Dutch travelers.

Meanwhile, Romanians took international trips only 8.8% of the time.

Why the gap? According to Eurostat, smaller and more northern countries tend to see more cross-border travel. Geography matters!

And unsurprisingly, the most popular time to travel was during the summer months – July and August.

Germans and Dutch Dominate Holiday Nights Abroad

EU travelers spent around 2.4 billion nights abroad in 2023. Germany topped the charts with 877 million nights, followed by the Netherlands with 234 million. These two countries alone were responsible for nearly 46% of all nights spent abroad by EU citizens.

But if you adjust for population size, Luxembourgers take the crown again – spending an average of 38 nights abroad per person! That’s a lot of time away from home. The Dutch and Cypriots follow with about 16 and 15 nights abroad per person.

At the bottom? Romanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Italians, and Portuguese, who averaged less than three nights abroad per person.

Where do europeans sleep?

In 2023, there were over 636,000 tourist accommodations across the EU, offering a total of 29.2 million bed places.

Italy and Croatia alone made up more than half of all accommodation facilities in the EU, with 230,000 and 117,000 respectively. In Poland, there were about 10,000 such places, where tourists spent just under 93 million nights.

Small countries like Malta (335 accommodations) and Luxembourg (363) naturally have fewer places to stay – due in large part to their size.

Spain takes the tourism crown

When it comes to where tourists choose to go, Spain is the undisputed champion. In 2023, tourists booked 302 million nights in Spanish accommodations – nearly 22% of all international tourist stays in the EU.

Top destinations included Majorca, Tenerife, Barcelona, Venice, and Paris, which together accounted for 12% of all EU foreign tourist nights.

Italy came second with 234 million nights, followed by France (138 million), Greece (123 million), and Austria (91 million). Together, these five countries hosted nearly two-thirds (64.5%) of all nights spent by international travelers in the EU.

Other popular destinations included Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

Poland ranked 13th, behind countries like Ireland, Czechia, and Belgium. At the bottom of the list were Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Luxembourg, each with fewer than 4 million international tourist nights.

Still, for many Poles, the Baltic countries offer affordable, culturally familiar, and easy-to-reach travel options – especially with direct train routes from major Polish cities.

What does tourism intensity look like?

A good way to compare countries is by looking at tourism intensity – the number of overnight stays per resident.

By that measure, Croatia wins hands down, with 24 nights per resident in 2023. Next up were Malta (18), Cyprus (17), and then Greece and Austria (14 each).

Poland, unfortunately, ranks near the bottom – third from last, ahead of only Latvia and Romania.

Eurostat

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