Tourism demand across the European Union rose sharply in the summer of 2025, driven by strong growth in bookings made through online platforms such as Airbnb,

Booking.com and Expedia.

Between July and September 2025, travelers spent 398.1 million nights in short-term rental accommodation booked via these platforms. This marked an 8.7% increase compared with the same period in 2024 and a striking 28.2% jump compared with the third quarter of 2023, highlighting the continued recovery and expansion of Europe’s tourism sector.

July recorded the strongest growth, with guest nights rising 10.0% year on year. August and September also showed solid performance, each posting an 8.0% increase compared with the previous year.

The figures come from Eurostat’s latest monthly data on short-stay accommodation offered through online collaborative platforms. The statistical office released national-level results for the third quarter of 2025 and regional-level data for the second quarter of the year.

Southern Europe leads demand

At the regional level, Andalucia in Spain emerged as the most popular destination for platform-based short-term rentals in the second quarter of 2025, recording 13.3 million guest nights. It was followed by Jadranska Hrvatska in Croatia with 9.6 million nights, and Île-de-France in France with 9.0 million nights.

Notably, the 20 most visited tourist regions were concentrated in just five EU countries. Spain and France dominated the ranking with six regions each, while Italy accounted for five, Portugal for two, and Croatia for one.

The data underlines both the growing role of online booking platforms in European tourism and the continued popularity of Mediterranean and major urban destinations as travel demand remains strong heading into the second half of the decade. Photo by Jebulon, Wikimedia commons.