Tourism across the European Union reached a historic milestone in 2025, with travelers spending an estimated 3.08 billion nights in tourist accommodation establishments, according to early
data released by Eurostat. The figure marks a 2% increase compared with 2024, equivalent to 61.5 million additional overnight stays, confirming the continued strength of Europe’s travel recovery.
The growth was largely fueled by international visitors, whose overnight stays rose by 46.1 million during the year. Domestic tourism also expanded, though at a more moderate pace, adding 15.4 million nights. Overall, tourism demand remained evenly split, with international guests accounting for 49% of all nights spent and domestic travelers making up the remaining 51%.
Hotels and similar accommodation continued to dominate the market. In 2025, they recorded 1.9 billion overnight stays, representing 63% of the total. Holiday dwellings and other short-stay accommodation followed with 743 million nights (24%), while campsites accounted for 413 million nights, or 13% of all stays.
The upward trend was visible across most EU member states. Compared with 2024, tourism nights increased in nearly every country. Malta led the growth with a 10% rise, followed by Poland (+7%) and Latvia (+6%). In contrast, only a few countries saw declines, with Romania recording a 1% decrease and Ireland a 2% drop.
The figures are part of Eurostat’s early estimates on tourism and provide a snapshot ahead of more detailed data. Taken together, the results highlight the resilience of the EU tourism sector and its ability to attract both international and domestic travelers at record levels in 2025. Photo by Babacar Dioum, Wikimedia commons.