According to Eurostat, in 2011, EU residents made 1.2 billion trips for both leisure and business. In addition, as for total trips, holiday trips made by EU residents rose strongly between 2006 and 2008 and then remained nearly stable between 2008 and 2011.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, presented its statistics on tourism in 2011. The figures show that business trips were more affected by the financial crisis than holiday trips. Holiday trips made by EU residents remained nearly stable between 2008 and 2011. In contrast, trips for professional reasons, which accounted for 14% of total trips, registered a continuous decline of 11% by 2011 from the peak of 2008. In January 2012, Eurostat also published that the number of nights spent in hotels by tourists in the EU reached a record number.

Among the Member States, the highest numbers of both holiday and business trips were recorded by residents of Germany (215 million holiday trips and 56 million business trips), France (204 million and 21 million), the United Kingdom (117 million and 26 million) and Spain (122 million and 17 million). These four Member States accounted for nearly two thirds of all holiday trips and three quarters of all business trips made by EU residents in 2011.

In addition, three quarters of the one billion holiday trips made in 2011 were spent within the country of residence, while holiday trips to other countries accounted for the other quarter. The highest shares of domestic trips in 2011 were found in Romania, Spain and Portugal. In five Member States, half or more of all holiday trips in 2011 were outbound trips: Luxembourg, Belgium, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Austria.