LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – In the first six months of 2026, tourist accommodation across the European Union reached a total of 1.321 billion overnight stays. This figure marks a 1.7% increase from 1.299 billion nights during the same period in 2025. The data, compiled by Eurostat, covers the nights spent from January to June within the 27-member bloc, including both domestic and international guests staying at commercial tourist accommodation providers.
Ireland experienced the most significant growth among EU nations, with overnight stays climbing 14.6% compared to the previous year. Malta followed with a 9.9% rise, while Slovakia saw a 5.9% increase. Conversely, nine countries reported decreases in overnight stays during the first half of 2026. Cyprus saw the largest decline at 7.7%, with Romania close behind at 6.7%. These figures reflect nights spent rather than visitor counts, tourism revenue, or travel expenditure.
International visitors contributed to 48.9% of all tourist accommodation nights in the EU during the first half of 2026. Malta boasted the highest proportion of foreign overnight stays at 95.2% of its total. Cyprus followed with 92.6%, and Luxembourg recorded an 87.7% share. These statistics include non-resident guests from other EU countries as well as destinations outside the bloc. The remaining share of overnight stays across the EU was generated by domestic visitors.
Growth in international visitor nights outpaces domestic
Compared to the first half of 2025, nights spent by international tourists grew by 2.5%. During the same period, domestic visitor nights increased by 0.9%. As a result, international overnight stays grew nearly three times faster than domestic ones. Foreign visitors accounted for nearly half of all tourism nights recorded across the EU. These figures illustrate how both resident and non-resident travel separately contributed to the overall 1.7% rise in accommodation nights.
In several large domestic tourism markets, foreign guest demand remained relatively low. Germany’s international visitor share was 18.5% during the first six months of 2026. Poland had 19.8%, while Romania stood at 23.0%. Each of these countries thus recorded less than one quarter of their tourism nights from non-resident visitors. These variations emphasize notable differences in accommodation demand composition across individual EU member states.
Accommodation types include hotels and short-term rentals
The tourism accommodation data encompasses hotels, similar lodging establishments, holiday rentals, and other short-stay options. It also covers camping sites, RV parks, and trailer parks. Eurostat defines an overnight stay as each night a guest spends at a tourist accommodation. The first-half figures exclude nights in non-rented accommodations. This standardized measurement framework enables national data to be aggregated into a comprehensive overview of tourism accommodation across the EU.
Earlier data for the first quarter indicated 471.1 million tourism nights across the EU, representing a 3.4% rise compared to the same quarter in 2025. January alone accounted for 143.5 million nights (+3.2%), February for 154.4 million (+3.4%), and March for 173.2 million (+3.7%). Extending the reporting period through June, the latest figures show total EU tourist accommodation nights reaching 1.321 billion in the first six months of 2026.