LUXEMBOURG / RankWire.AI / – Tourist overnight stays across the European Union reached a total of 1.321 billion in the first half of 2026. This marks a 1.7% increase from 1.299 billion nights in the same period of 2025. Eurostat provided these figures for the period from January through June, covering the 27-member bloc. The data include nights spent by both local and international tourists at commercial accommodation providers.
Ireland experienced the highest growth, with overnight stays up 14.6% compared to the previous year. Malta followed with a 9.9% rise, while Slovakia saw growth of 5.9%. Nine EU countries reported declines during this six-month span. Cyprus had the largest drop at 7.7%, with Romania at 6.7%. These numbers measure nights spent rather than visitor arrivals, tourism income, or travel expenditure.
International visitors accounted for 48.9% of all EU tourist accommodation nights in the first half of 2026. Malta had the highest foreign share at 95.2%, with Cyprus close behind at 92.6%. Luxembourg recorded an 87.7% foreign overnight stay share. The data also include non-residents from other EU countries and outside destinations. Domestic visitors made up the remaining share of overnight stays across the EU.
Growth in international overnight stays outpaces domestic
International overnight stays rose by 2.5% compared to the first half of 2025. Domestic nights increased by only 0.9% during the same period. The growth in international stays was nearly three times that of domestic. Foreign visitors made up almost half of all tourism nights recorded in the EU. The data show how resident and non-resident travel separately contributed to the overall 1.7% increase in accommodation nights.
In several major domestic tourism markets, foreign demand was a smaller part of total nights. Germany recorded an international visitor share of 18.5% for the first six months of 2026. Poland’s share was 19.8%, and Romania’s stood at 23.0%. Each of these countries received less than one quarter of its total tourism nights from non-residents. The figures reveal notable differences in how accommodation demand varies across individual EU nations.
Hotels and short-term lodging included in statistics
The tourism accommodation data cover hotels, similar establishments, holiday lodges, and other short-stay options. They also include 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 data do not include nights in non-rented lodging. This consistent measurement approach helps aggregate national figures into a total for EU tourism accommodation.
Earlier data from the first quarter recorded 471.1 million tourism nights in the EU, up 3.4% from the same period in 2025. January accounted for 143.5 million nights, an increase of 3.2%. February registered 154.4 million nights, up 3.4%, and March reached 173.2 million nights, an increase of 3.7%. The latest figures for the first half extend this reporting through June, bringing the total for EU tourist accommodation nights to 1.321 billion for the first six months of 2026.