Deirdre O Meara 
The tourism industry has been hard-hit by the pandemic. But a new report from Eurostat shows that in 2022, EU tourist stays approached pre-pandemic levels. The 27-nation bloc recorded 2.7bn nights spent in tourist accommodation last year, an increase of 91% and 48% from 2020 and 2021 levels, respectively. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers and what this means for the European Union as a whole.
The report found that France remained the most popular destination for tourists in 2022, with 685m nights spent in hotels and similar establishments over the course of the year. This is followed closely by Spain (636m nights), Italy (566m nights) and Germany (345m nights). These four countries account for more than half of all nights spent in tourist accommodation across the EU.
The tourism industry was hit especially hard during the pandemic due to border closures and lockdowns, but it appears that there is cause for optimism moving forward. In fact, some countries have seen much larger increases than others when it comes to nights spent in tourist accommodation since 2019 – Lithuania saw a whopping 256%, while Austria’s increase was 205%. This suggests that people are increasingly willing to travel abroad as pandemic restrictions ease up throughout Europe.
The report found that France remained the most popular destination for tourists in 2022, with 685m nights spent in hotels and similar establishments over the course of the year. This is followed closely by Spain (636m nights), Italy (566m nights) and Germany (345m nights). These four countries account for more than half of all nights spent in tourist accommodation across the EU.
