In the first quarter of 2024, there were 452.6 million overnight stays in tourist accommodation establishments across the EU, an increase of 7% compared to the same quarter in 2023, with Croatia in second place for the increase in foreign overnight stays, Eurostat data show.

Foreign visitors accounted for around 45% of all overnight stays in the first three months of 2024, with large differences between EU countries.

Malta (91%), Cyprus (87%), Luxembourg (82%) and Austria (78%) recorded the largest share of foreign overnight stays at the beginning of the year. These are followed by Portugal, Croatia (with a share of foreign overnight stays of around 70%), Spain, Slovenia, Latvia, Belgium and other countries. At the bottom of the ranking are Germany, Romania and Poland with a share of foreign overnight stays of around 20%.

In the first quarter of 2024, the increase in overnight stays by foreign visitors (+11% compared to the first quarter of 2023) was much stronger than the increase in domestic overnight stays (+4%).

The largest increases in overnight stays by foreign visitors were recorded in Cyprus (+23%), Croatia (+22%) and Malta and Luxembourg (+21% each). At the other end of the scale, the smallest increases were recorded in Lithuania, Poland and Greece (all +3%).

In Q1 2024, hotels recorded an increase in overnight stays of 6, or 18 million more overnight stays than in Q1 2023.