Tourism statistics
From Statistics Explained
- Data from January 2012, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article takes a look at recent statistics on tourism in in the European Union (EU), in particular the first results for 2010-2011 evolutions. The focus is on nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments by residents and non-residents, but it also looks at holiday trips made by EU residents, whether or not involving a stay at tourist accommodation establishments.
Following two years of decline in 2008 and 2009, the European tourist-accommodation sector continued in 2011 a recovery that started in 2010. The total number of nights spent at hotels and similar establishments during 2011 was well above the level of 2007, the year before the crisis began to affect the tourism sector.
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Main statistical findings
Occupancy of tourist accommodation surpasses the pre-crisis level
The increase at EU level (+3.8 % for hotels and similar establishments, +2.7 % for total collective accommodation) was reflected in the national figures, with increases in all EU Member States for which data were available (see Figure 1), except Italy.
The number of nights spent by non-residents continued to grow at a faster pace (+7.3 %) than the nights spent by residents (+1.2 %), meaning that international tourism has been recovering the share of the pie it lost to domestic tourism in the period 2008-2009. Non-resident nights increased in all Member States in 2011 compared with 2010, with double-digit growth rates in 10 out of the 24 Member States for which data is available.
From the demand perspective — regardless of the type of accommodation — the number of holiday trips made by residents of the EU showed a slight decrease in 2011 (-0.3 %). This drop was mainly due to a decline in the number of domestic trips ( 0.5 %), while trips abroad (i.e. outbound trips) recorded a small increase (+0.1 %). The changes in the number of nights spent were more pronounced: -1.5 % for domestic nights and +2.0 % for trips abroad, meaning that compared with 2010, Europeans made on average fewer and shorter domestic trips and more and longer trips abroad.
Nights spent: overview
Total nights spent in hotels and similar establishments up by 3.8 %; nights spent by non-residents increased in all Member States
Following growth by 3.6 % in 2010, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments across the Union continued to grow in 2011 by 3.8 %.
The nights spent by non-residents (see Figure 2) grew faster in 2011 (+7.3 %) than in 2010 (+5.5 % — not presented here in the tables/graphs). The growth of non-resident nights at EU level was the aggregate of positive growth figures in all EU Member States for which data is available, with growth rates exceeding 15 % for Bulgaria (+19.5 %), Lithuania (+19.3 %), Estonia (+16.0 %) and Latvia (+15.4 %). Spain — the most important country in terms of non-resident nights — recorded an increase of 14.7 %.
Growing by 1.2 %, the number of nights spent by residents (see Figure 3) increased at a slower pace compared to one year earlier (+2.1 % in 2010). Although an overall increase was observed at EU level, one third of the Member States for which data is available recorded a decrease in the number of nights spent by domestic tourists in hotels and similar establishments.
Nights spent: impact of crisis
In 2011, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments exceeded 2007’s record level by 3 %
Figure 4 reveals a significant contraction of the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the years 2008 and 2009. While growth in 2010 made good two-thirds of the decrease over the two preceding years, 2011 showed occupancy levels exceeding those of the period before the start of the crisis. In the period 2008-2009, domestic tourism suffered less than international tourism (nights spent by residents also dropped, but by far less than non-resident nights). However in 2011 the share of international tourism in total occupancy of accommodation establishments was again at the pre-crisis level.
Nights spent: 2011 patterns
In the second half of the year, the growth of non-resident nights slowed down while the growth for resident nights accelerated
Taking residents and non-residents together, Figure 5 shows a constant pattern throughout the year for the increase of the total number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments. Both in the first half and the second half of the year, the estimated growth was identical to the overall annual figure of +3.8% mentioned above.
The growth in non-resident nights was rather more pronounced in the first half year (+8.2 %) than in the second (+6.2 %). The overall growth by 1.2 % of resident nights in hotels and similar establishments (see also Figure 3 and Table 1), was mainly generated in the second half of the year (+2.0 %). In the period January-June, resident nights increased by 0.5 % compared with the same period in 2010.
The better performance of the non-resident nights in accommodation establishments was in line with the observation that a the number of nights spent abroad increased relatively rapidly in 2011 (see the next sections on tourism demand statistics). The (modest) growth of resident nights, combined with an overall decrease in domestic holiday trips and nights (see below) could indicate that holiday makers who stayed in their own country returned to accommodation establishments (compared to alternative lodging options that had been preferred in earlier years).
Tourism demand: overview
The number of holiday trips made by Europeans remained stable on average, masking increases in trips abroad and falls in domestic trips
Statistics on tourism demand include all trips made, regardless of whether they were spent in tourist accommodation (such as hotels or campsites) or in less formal and often unpaid types of accommodation (such as owned dwellings or accommodation provided free of charge by friends of relatives).
Based on results for the first three quarters of the year for 23 Member States, the number of holiday trips made by EU residents stayed more or less stable (a small decrease by 0.3 %, see Figure 6).
While the number of domestic trips dropped by 0.5 %, a slight increase was recorded for the number of trips abroad (+0.1 %). However, when looking at the number of nights spent, the differences were more distinct. Europeans spent 2 % more holiday nights abroad in 2011, compared with a drop of 1.5 % for domestic holiday nights. As a result, the average duration of domestic trips contracted by 1.0 % (to an average length of 4.7 nights — data not shown in the Figure), while the duration of trips abroad increased by 1.9 % (to an average of 8.8 nights).
The data in Table 2 shows a contraction in the demand for short holidays (-1.4 %), mainly in the segment of the short trips abroad (i.e. trips abroad of 1 to 3 overnight stays). For the long holidays(i.e. trips of at least 4 overnight stays), an overall increase of 0.9 % was recorded, with a stronger growth in the segment of long trips abroad (+1.7 %) compared to long domestic trips (+0.5 %).
The fact that domestic trips have to some extent been replaced by trips abroad and shorter trips by longer ones, constitutes a possible sign of a recovery in tourism demand, even if the overall trend was still not positive.
Tourism demand: intra-annual data
The drop in tourism demand was strongest in the second half of the year, in particular for domestic and short trips
Tourism demand showed a slightly negative annual growth (-0.3 %). Intra-annual data reveal that this was the case in both the first (-0.1 %) and second half (-0.6 %) of the year (see Table 2).
For trips abroad, the trend was virtually the same across both half years. For domestic trips, however, the second semester recorded a greater decline (a more negative growth rate). The decline was much stronger for the number of nights than for the number of trips. This was especially the case in the segment of long domestic trips, where the number of trips remained stable while the number of nights spent on such trips dropped by 3.1 %. Before the main holiday season — i.e. in the first semester — the decline in domestic trips was less pronounced.
Tourism demand: variations across the EU
The stability at EU level masked major variations across the EU, ranging from double-digit year-on-year decreases to double-digit increases
Behind the 0.3 % decline in the number of holiday trips taken by Europeans, major differences can be observed (see Table 4).
While the Czech Republic and Slovakia recorded increases of 33.2 % and 12.1 % respectively, sharp decreases were noted for Estonia ( 17.1 %), Italy (-18.5 %) and Poland ( 11.0 %). Residents of Germany and France — the biggest two generating markets (no data available for the UK) — made 3.4 % fewer and 2.0 % more holidays trips respectively.
Tourism expenditure
Europeans spent less on holiday trips in their own country but more on trips abroad compared to 2010
Data on tourism expenditure is available for 19 EU Member States (see Table 3). The countries are not identical to the subset discussed above, so the observations may not be entirely compatible.
While the trend in the number of holidays was slightly negative (-0.3 %), the expenditure on those trips slightly increased (+0.3 %). On average, Europeans spent 1.6 % more per holiday trip and 1.4 % more per night, compared with 2010. In 2011, tourists spent on average 349 euro during a holiday trip, 220 euro on domestic trips and 770 euro on trips abroad.
Although the number of nights spent on long trips abroad grew faster than the number of trips — resulting in a longer average duration — expenditure on such trips dropped by 0.2 %. As a consequence, spending per night decreased even more (-1.3 %).
Data sources and availability
Representativeness of the EU-27 estimates
- Nights spent at collective accommodation establishments (Figure 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; Table 1): EU-27 estimation based on all Member States excepting Ireland, Greece and Luxembourg (these 24 Member States represent 95.6% of the total nights spent in the European Union).
- Holiday trips made by EU residents, nights spent and average length of trips (Figure 6, Table 2 and 4): aggregate data based on 23 Member States (not including Ireland, Greece, Malta and the United Kingdom), these Member States represent 84.3% of the total population of the European Union.
- Tourist expenditure by EU residents (Figure 6, Table 3): aggregate data based on 19 Member States (not including Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom), these Member States represent 68.6% of the total population of the European Union.
Symbols
":" data unavailable or unreliable
Context
In June 2010, the European Commission released a Communication entitled "Europe, the world's No 1 tourist destination - a new political framework for tourism in Europe". One of the challenges and opportunities facing the European tourism industry is the seasonal distribution of demand for tourism. Better use of existing tourist infrastructure and staff in the low season could help businesses improve their productivity and benefit from a more stable and motivated workforce. Extending the tourism season or spreading tourism activities more evenly throughout the year can significantly boost the sustainability and competitiveness of European tourist destinations.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Occupancy of tourist accommodation surpasses the pre-crisis level - Statistics in focus n° 8/2012
Main tables
Database
- Tourism (tour), see:
- Occupancy in collective accommodation establishments : domestic and inbound tourism (tour_occ)
- Nights spent by residents and non-residents (tour_occ_n)
- Nights spent - national - annual data (tour_occ_ninat)
- Nights spent - monthly data (tour_occ_nim)
- Nights spent by residents and non-residents (tour_occ_n)
- Tourism demand : domestic and outbound tourism (excluding day-trips) (tour_dem)
- Number of tourism trips (tour_dem_tt)
- Number of trips - by month of departure - annual and quarterly data (tour_dem_ttmd)
- Number of tourism nights (tour_dem_tn)
- Number of tourism nights - by month of departure - annual and quarterly data (tour_dem_tnmd)
- Expenditure on tourism trips (tour_dem_ex)
- Tourist expenditure - total - annual and quarterly data (tour_dem_extot)
- Number of tourism trips (tour_dem_tt)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
Other information
- With 2012 as reference year:
- Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC.
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1051/2011 of 20 October 2011 implementing Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism, as regards the structure of the quality reports and the transmission of the data.
- Previous legal acts (concerning reference periods before 2012):
- Commission Decision 1999/35/CE of 9 December 1998 on the procedures for implementing Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism.
- Commission Decision 2004/883/CE of 10 December 2004 adjusting the Annex to Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism as regards country lists.
- Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism.
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