Summer 2024 under the sign of online platform tourism. Reservations on the rise in the EU

Brussels – As the summer travel season in the European Union has entered full swing, Eurostat certifies the trend of tourism in 2024. In the first three months of this year, the trend of nights spent in short-term rental accommodations through the online platforms Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group, and TripAdvisor was of sharp growth not only compared to the same period in 2023 but also month by month in the current year.

The Eurostat data published today (July 29) show that online platform tourism continued to set new monthly records in 2024: in January, there were 33.3 million nights spent in accommodations booked through online platforms (+16.7 per cent compared to January 2023), in February 41.2 million nights (+19 per cent compared to February 2023), and in March 49.2 million (compared to March 2023 this is a downright+48 per cent). The total thus stands at 123.7 million nights in the first three months of 2024, for an overall increase of 28.3 per cent over the same period last year.

Awaiting final data on this type of tourism in the EU member countries in 2024, today Eurostat also released the 2023 regional data, highlighting the most popular destinations for tourists when they opt for short-term rental accommodation booked through online platforms. Leading the EU regional ranking last year was Andalusia (Spain) with a total of 35.6 million nights, followed closely by Adriatic Croatia with 32.6 million, and more closely behind was France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur with 24.9 million. Also among the top 20 most popular European regions are five Italian ones: Lazio (first among Italians in 12th place, with 14.4 million nights spent), followed by Lombardy(14.1 million), Tuscany (13.9), Sicily (10.1), and Veneto (9.6).