Brussels – Despite the economic slowdown and the continued rise in inflation, tourism in the European Union is holding up; indeed, it is increasing. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in the first half of 2026, there were 1,321 million overnight stays in tourist accommodations across the EU, up 1.7 per cent from the first six months of 2025 (1,299 million).
Looking at individual Member States, in the first six months of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025, the largest increases in the number of overnight stays were recorded in Ireland (+14.6 per cent), Malta (+9.9 per cent) and Slovakia (+5.9 per cent). Nine countries, however, recorded decreases, the largest of which were in Cyprus (-7.7 per cent) and Romania (-6.7 per cent).
Also in the first half of 2026, overnight stays by “foreign” tourists – that is, non-residents in the places where they stay, and who may come from either an EU Member State or a third country – accounted for almost half (48.9 per cent) of all stays. However, as Eurostat points out, there are “significant differences between EU countries.”
The figures show that the highest number of overnight stays by foreign tourists was recorded in Malta (95.2 per cent), Cyprus (92.6 per cent), and Luxembourg (87.7 per cent). By contrast, in Germany (18.5 per cent), Poland (19.8 per cent), and Romania (23.0 per cent), international tourists spent fewer than a quarter of the total overnight stays recorded. The increase in overnight stays by foreign tourists in the first half of 2026 (+2.5 per cent from the first half of 2025) was almost three times higher than the growth recorded for domestic tourists (+0.9 per cent) – that is, tourists from the same country as their destination.
From January to June 2026, overnight stays in Italian tourist accommodations totalled more than 217 million. In June 2026, Italy had the highest number of overnight stays in tourist accommodations in the European Union, with over 65 million nights. Italy was followed by Spain (57 million), France (46 million), Germany (43 million), Greece (24 million), and the Netherlands (14 million). Also in June 2026, Estonia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Luxembourg did not reach one million recorded overnight stays.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
