LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the European Union, the first half of 2026 saw a total of 1.321 billion overnight stays in tourist accommodations. This figure represents a 1.7% increase from the 1.299 billion nights recorded during the same period in 2025. Eurostat provided the data for stays from January to June across the 27-member bloc, encompassing nights spent by both domestic and international visitors at commercial tourist lodging venues.
Ireland experienced the most significant growth among EU nations, with overnight stays rising by 14.6% compared to the previous year. Malta followed closely with a 9.9% increase, while Slovakia posted a 5.9% growth. Conversely, nine countries saw decreases in overnight stays over the six months. Cyprus suffered the largest decline at 7.7%, with Romania at 6.7%. It is important to note that these figures measure nights spent rather than visitor arrivals, tourism revenues, or travel expenditures.
International visitors made up 48.9% of all EU tourist accommodation nights during the first half of 2026. Malta recorded the highest proportion of foreign overnight stays, accounting for 95.2% of its total. Cyprus followed with 92.6%, and Luxembourg had an 87.7% share. These figures include non-resident guests from other EU countries as well as travelers from outside the bloc. The remaining share of overnight stays was contributed by domestic visitors across the EU.
Stronger growth observed in foreign visitor nights
The number of nights spent by international visitors increased by 2.5% compared to the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, domestic visitor nights saw a rise of 0.9% during the same period. This indicates that international overnight stays grew nearly three times faster than domestic stays. Foreign guests now account for almost half of all tourism nights recorded within the EU. The data highlights how resident and non-resident travel separately contributed to the overall 1.7% rise in accommodation nights.
In several major domestic tourism markets, foreign visitors represented a smaller share of total accommodation demand. For example, Germany had an international visitor share of 18.5% during the first six months of 2026. Poland’s share was 19.8%, while Romania’s stood at 23.0%. Each of these countries received less than a quarter of its recorded tourism nights from non-resident visitors. These figures underscore significant variations in the composition of accommodation demand across individual EU member states.
Accommodation data includes hotels and short-term lodgings
The statistics on tourism accommodation cover hotels, similar establishments, holiday rentals, and other short-stay accommodations. The data also encompass camping sites, RV parks, and trailer parks. Eurostat defines an overnight stay as each night a guest spends at a tourist accommodation. The first-half data exclude nights spent in non-rented accommodations. This standardized measurement system enables national figures to be combined into an overall total for tourism accommodation across the EU.
Earlier data from the first quarter indicated 471.1 million tourism nights within the EU, marking a 3.4% increase from the same quarter in 2025. January accounted for 143.5 million nights, up 3.2%, with February at 154.4 million nights, an increase of 3.4%. March reached 173.2 million nights, up 3.7%. The latest first-half data extend this reporting period through June, bringing the total EU tourist accommodation nights to 1.321 billion for the first six months of 2026.