Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: tourism in europe

  • Tourism nights dropped sharply in March and April 2020

    Tourism nights dropped sharply in March and April 2020

    From January to April 2020, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU, such as hotels, holiday and other short-stay accommodation, camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks, totalled 353 million, a decline of 44% from January-April 2019.

    In terms of individual months within this period, the most substantial falls in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments were recorded in March (-62%) and April (-95%) compared with the same months of 2019.

    Prior to the pandemic, there had been a small improvement in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation, with increases of 5% and 6% in January and February respectively.

    There was a similar trend displayed in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation, regardless of whether the guests were from the reporting country or foreign countries.

    The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments declined across all Member States, for which data are available, in January-April 2020 when compared with a year earlier, ranging from a 26% decline in Austria to a drop of 70% in Croatia.

    The declines were in excess of 40% for 16 out of 25 Member States.

  • Poland: 97.5% decrease in the number of tourists accommodated in April

    Poland: 97.5% decrease in the number of tourists accommodated in April

    In March 2020, 881.4 thousand tourists were accommodated and 2.5 million overnight stays were provided, latest Central Statistical Office data show. Compared to March 2019, this was a decrease of 63.3% and 56.7% respectively.

    A drop in the number of tourists was also recorded in April this year. Accord-ing to estimates, the number of persons accommodated was lower by about 97.5% compared to the same month of the previous year.

    The final results of the survey showed that in March this year, 881.4 thousand tourists were accommodated in tourist accommodation establishments with 10 or more bed places, and this is a decrease of almost 1.5 million persons, compared to March 2019 (estimates showed a 65% decrease).

    In comparison with the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of domestic tourists accommodated decreased by 61.7% (from 1.9 million to 722.1 thousand), whereas the number of foreign tourists by 69.1% (from 515.9 thousand to 159.2 thousand).

    The decrease in the number of persons accommodated is due to restrictions on the movement of people and the operation of tourist accommodation establishments, short-term accommodation, as well as spa treatment activities introduced on 14 March, in connection with an epidemic emergency.

  • Eurostat: How could coronavirus impact EU tourism?

    Eurostat: How could coronavirus impact EU tourism?

    To gauge the potential loss that the tourism sector will have experienced because of the Covid-19 outbreak restrictions, Eurostat examined tourism figures of the previous two years for the periods of March-June (the ‘spring shoulder season’) and July-August (the ‘peak summer season’).

    Spring and summer are the most popular seasons for Europe’s tourism

    Spring and summer are the most popular seasons for Europe’s tourism industry. In 2019, the number of nights spent by residents and non-residents in EU tourist accommodation establishments during the spring and the peak summer season each accounted for nearly one-third (32%) of the annual total for overnight stays.

    The share of nights spent in these accommodation establishments was particularly high in the month of June for the spring season, accounting for 11% of the annual total, as well as in the months of July (15%) and August (17%). A similar trend is observed for both residents and non-residents of the countries visited.

    Across the EU Member States, the share that the spring season contributes towards annual tourism accommodation stays is relatively similar, ranging from 24% in Croatia and 27% in Bulgaria to 35% in Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands. For the peak summer season, this share ranged from 23% in Malta to 58% in Croatia.

    390 million trips in spring, 270 million trips during peak summer season

    In spring 2018, EU residents made almost 390 million tourist trips, representing 34% of the annual total. During these trips, they cumulated over 1.8 billion overnight stays and spent €170 billion.

    More than two-thirds (70%) of these trips were inside the country of residence, while 22% of them were trips to other EU countries and 8% to destinations outside the EU. A similar pattern was observed for trips throughout the entire year, including during the peak summer season.

    In summer 2018, over 270 million trips were made by EU residents, accounting for 24% of the annual total. These trips amounted to over 1.9 billion overnight stays and almost €138 billion in tourism spending.

    Spain and Italy top destinations for intra-EU visitors

    The EU residents’ preferred European destinations outside their own country were: Spain, Italy and to a lesser extent France and Germany, which together accounted for 49% of intra-EU trips during spring 2018 and 45% in summer.

    From March to June, Austria dominated the top-5 of preferred intra-EU destinations, in July and August Croatia was among the most popular destinations for EU tourists.

    Luxembourgers prefer to travel abroad during spring and summer

    In 2018, residents of Luxembourg preferred to travel abroad, with almost all their tourist trips (98%) being outside their country of residence in spring and 99% of their trips being abroad during the peak summer season.

    A similar trend was observed for residents in Belgium, where a vast majority of trips during the spring and peak summer season were made outside the country of residence (79%).

    At the other end of the scale, residents in Romania and Spain preferred to travel within their country of residence in spring, making 94% and 90% domestic trips respectively.

    During summer, this was also true for the Greeks, Romanians, Portuguese and Spanish, who took the vast majority of their tourist trips inside their country of residence (95%, 91%, 90% and 89% respectively).