Tourism statistics – top destinations

Europeans spend over four out of five of their trips inside their own country of residence

In 2022, residents of the European Union made 1.1 billion trips (for personal or professional purpose) and spent 5.4 billion nights during those trips (see Table 1). Tourist expenditure amounted to €474 billion.

Over four out of five trips (75.5 %) were domestic trips – i.e. trips in the tourist’s own country of residence – but in terms of nights spent and expenditure, domestic trips accounted for 60.3 % and 47.0 % of the total respectively, because domestic trips are generally shorter and cheaper (see Figure 1). For most EU countries, the domestic market was dominant; only for Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovenia this was not the case (see Tables 2 to 5). Tourists from Luxembourg made more foreign trips to one single foreign country (France) than those made inside their own country.

Italy and Spain are the top foreign destination for EU residents in 2022

On average for the EU, 24.5 % of all trips were made in a foreign country: 18.8 % in another EU Member State and 5.8 % outside the EU (see Figure 1). Italy was the number one foreign destination for EU residents, in terms of number of trips, with 11.3 % of all foreign trips made by Europeans, followed by Spain with 11.0 %. In terms of nights spent and expenditure, Spain came on top with 12.1 % and 11.9 % respectively, followed by Italy with 10.4 % and 11.1 % respectively. Italy was the main destination for more than 40 % of all foreign trips by Maltese residents and for at least 13 % of all foreign trips of German, Austrian and Swedish residents, while French, Italian and Portuguese tourists spent more foreign trips to Spain (21.7 %, 17.3 % and 36.1 % respectively).

A neighbouring or nearby country was the preferred foreign destination for trips of most European tourists. In terms of duration and expenditure, the proximity of the destination became less dominant: further away destinations – also outside Europe – took a greater share.

More than four out of five (76.5 %) foreign trips of Europeans were spent inside the EU (see Figure 2). In terms of nights spent, this represents nearly seven out of ten foreign tourism nights (68.2 %). The three top EU destinations (Spain, Italy and France) accounted for 44.8 % of these nights (see Figure 3). These trips are dealt with in more detail in the article “Intra-EU tourism flows“, that looks at this data from the perspective of the country visited (while in this article, the analysis is from the perspective of the country of residence of the tourist).

Figure 2: Share of world destinations for foreign trips of EU residents, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_ttw)

Figure 3: Destinations for foreign trips made by EU residents within the EU, in terms of nights spent, 2022 (share in the total foreign trips inside the EU)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_tnw)

The United Kingdom, Türkiye and Switzerland – top 3 destinations outside the EU

The United Kingdom, Türkiye and Switzerland were the top 3 destinations in terms of number of trips made by Europeans outside the EU in 2022 (see Figure 4).
Destinations outside the European continent made up only 10.1 % of all foreign trips (see Figure 2): 4.2 % to America, 3.2 % to Africa and 2.6 % to Asia. Often, these intercontinental flows were dominated by a few generating countries.

Figure 4: Top 10 destinations for foreign trips made by EU residents outside the EU, in terms of number of trips, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_dem_ttw)

Detailed overview per country

Tables 2 to 5 present a detailed overview per country, for convenience of presentation split into four geographical zones according to EuroVoc (multidisciplinary thesaurus covering the activities of the EU). In most cases, the choice of destination may be determined by proximity and/or relative attractiveness (e.g. in terms of climate). However, historical migrant flows, former colonial ties or language may also influence the choice of destination, for instance the United Kingdom for residents of Cyprus and Malta or Portugal for residents of Luxembourg.