LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the first six months of 2026, tourist overnight stays across the European Union reached a total of 1.321 billion. This figure marks a 1.7% increase from the 1.299 billion nights recorded during the same period in 2025. Eurostat provided these statistics for the period from January to June, encompassing data from all 27 member states. The numbers reflect nights spent by both residents and visitors at commercial tourist accommodations.
Ireland saw the most significant growth among EU nations, with overnight stays climbing by 14.6% compared to the previous year. Malta experienced an increase of 9.9%, while Slovakia’s figures rose by 5.9%. Conversely, nine countries faced declines in overnight stays during this half-year. Cyprus experienced the sharpest decrease at 7.7%, with Romania following at 6.7%. These figures represent nights spent rather than visitor arrivals, tourism income, or travel expenditure.
International visitors made up 48.9% of all EU tourist accommodation nights during the first half of 2026. Malta led with the highest proportion of foreign overnight stays, at 95.2% of its total. Cyprus was next at 92.6%, and Luxembourg recorded a share of 87.7%. These figures include non-resident guests from other EU countries and destinations beyond the bloc. The remaining overnight stays were contributed by domestic visitors across the EU.
Growth in international visitor nights outpaces domestic
Compared to the first half of 2025, nights spent by international visitors increased by 2.5%, while domestic visitor nights saw a rise of only 0.9%. As a result, international overnight stays grew at nearly three times the rate of domestic stays. Foreign visitors accounted for almost half of all recorded tourism nights across the EU. These figures demonstrate how resident and non-resident travel separately contributed to the overall 1.7% increase in accommodation nights.
In several major domestic tourism markets, foreign visitors made up a smaller share of overall demand. Germany had an international visitor proportion of 18.5% during the first six months of 2026, while Poland recorded 19.8%, and Romania stood at 23.0%. Each of these countries received less than a quarter of its tourism nights from non-resident visitors. The data underscore notable variations in the composition of accommodation demand among individual EU member states.
Accommodation types covered include hotels and short-term rentals
The statistics on tourism accommodation encompass hotels, similar lodging establishments, holiday rentals, and other short-stay options. They also include camping sites, recreational vehicle parks, and trailer parks. According to Eurostat, an overnight stay counts as each night a guest spends at a tourist accommodation facility. The data for the first half does not incorporate nights in non-rented accommodations. This standardized measurement approach ensures that national figures can be combined to form an overall total for tourism accommodation across the EU.
Earlier data from the first quarter indicated 471.1 million tourism nights within the EU, representing a 3.4% increase from the same period in 2025. January contributed 143.5 million nights (+3.2%), February 154.4 million (+3.4%), and March 173.2 million (+3.7%). The most recent figures extend this reporting to June, bringing the total for the first half of 2026 to 1.321 billion nights.