LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the first half of 2026, tourist accommodation nights across the European Union reached a total of 1.321 billion. This figure marks a 1.7% increase from 1.299 billion nights during the same period of 2025. Eurostat provided the data for the period from January to June across all 27 member states. The statistics encompass nights spent by both domestic and international visitors at commercial tourism accommodation facilities.
Ireland experienced the most significant growth among EU nations, with overnight stays climbing 14.6% from the previous year. Malta followed with a 9.9% rise, while Slovakia recorded an increase of 5.9%. Conversely, nine countries saw declines in overnight stays over the same six-month span. Cyprus faced the sharpest decrease at 7.7%, with Romania close behind at 6.7%. These figures measure nights spent rather than visitor entries, tourism revenue, or travel expenditure.
International visitors accounted for 48.9% of all EU tourist accommodation nights during the initial half of 2026. Malta had the highest proportion of foreign overnight stays, at 95.2% of its total. Cyprus followed with 92.6%, while Luxembourg recorded an 87.7% share. These figures include non-resident guests from other EU nations and outside destinations. The remaining share of overnight stays was generated by domestic visitors across the EU.
Stronger growth observed in nights by international travelers
International visitor nights grew by 2.5% compared to the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, domestic visitor nights increased by 0.9% during the same period. Consequently, international overnight stays expanded at nearly three times the rate of domestic stays. Foreign visitors now account for almost half of all tourism nights recorded within the EU. The data illustrates how resident and non-resident travel separately contributed to the overall 1.7% rise in accommodation nights.
In several large domestic tourism markets, foreign guests represented a smaller share of accommodation demand. Germany’s international visitor share was 18.5% during the first six months of 2026. Poland reported 19.8%, and Romania was at 23.0%. Each of these countries received less than one quarter of its total tourism nights from non-residents. These figures underscore notable differences in the composition of tourism demand among individual EU member states.
Accommodation types covered include hotels and short-term rentals
The tourism accommodation data include hotels, similar establishments, holiday lodgings, and other short-stay accommodations. Additionally, they encompass camping sites, recreational vehicle parks, and trailer parks. According to Eurostat, an overnight stay refers to each night a guest spends at a tourist accommodation. The data for the first half of the year exclude nights spent in non-rented accommodations. This standardized measurement framework facilitates the aggregation of national figures into a comprehensive total for tourism accommodation across the EU.
Earlier data from the first quarter indicated 471.1 million tourism nights within the EU, representing a 3.4% increase from the same period in 2025. January saw 143.5 million nights (up 3.2%), February recorded 154.4 million nights (up 3.4%), and March reached 173.2 million nights (up 3.7%). The latest figures for the first half extend the reporting through June, culminating in a total of 1.321 billion EU tourist accommodation nights for the first six months of 2026.