Tourism nights in EU peak at 2.8 bln in 2015

In 2015, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union (EU) is expected to have reached a new record level of around 2.8 billion nights, up by 3.2 percent compared with 2014, the EU statistical office said Tuesday.

Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in the number of overnight stays in the EU, notably driven by the rise in the nights spent by non-residents, the Eurostat said in a report.

In particular, Spain reinforced its top position in terms of tourism nights in 2015, ahead of France, Italy and Germany.

The number of nights spent in accommodations grew in the majority of member states for which data are available, with the largest increases being observed in Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland, said the report.

By contrast, the largest fall was recorded in Lithuania, followed at a distance by Latvia and Bulgaria.

Moreover, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU by non-residents grew faster between 2014 and 2015 than those spent by residents.

In 2015, the largest increases in nights spent by non-residents were observed in Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, while by residents also in Romania, ahead of the Czech Republic. In absolute figures, Spain, Italy and France recorded the highest number of nights spent by non-residents in their tourism accommodation establishments, said the report. Endit