The number of nights spent in hotels by tourists in the EU reached a record number
In 2011, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU reached a peak of 1.6 billion nights. This means a record number of nights spent in hotels in the EU in 2011 and an increase of 3.8% compared with 2010. The highest numbers of nights spent in hotels were recorded in Spain, Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has published its latest data for the number of nights spent in hotels by tourist in the EU. Last year, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU27 reached a peak of 1.6 billion nights, up by 3.8% compared with 2010. By similar establishments, Eurostat understands hotels, apartment hotels, motels, roadside inns, beach hotels and other similar establishments which provide hotel services including more than bed-making and cleaning of the room and sanitary facilities. The European Commission promotes tourism with initiatives such as the 2011 edition of the European Tourism Day.
It is worth to note that nights spent by non-residents were up by 7%. The highest number of nights spent by non-residents were in Spain and Italy. In 2011, non-residents accounted for 47% of the total number of nights spent in hotels in the EU compared with 53% for residents. Furthermore, apart from the two Mediterranean islands, Malta (96%) and Cyprus (92%), the highest shares of nights spent by non-residents were registered in Estonia (76%), Latvia (75%), Austria (72%) and Bulgaria (71%), and the lowest in Romania (17%), Germany (21%) and Sweden (23%).
Among the Member States for which data are available, the highest numbers of nights spent in hotels in 2011 were recorded in Spain (288 million nights, +7.8% compared with 2010), Italy (249 mn, -1.2%), Germany (241 mn, +5.4%), France (202 mn, +3.0%) and the United Kingdom (166 mn, +0.5%). These five Member States accounted for 70% of the total number of hotel nights spent in the EU. Overall, the number of nights spent in hotels in 2011 increased in all Member States, except Italy (-1.2%).