Eurostat published its figures regarding tourism in the EU in 2011. In 2011, EU residents made 1.0 billion holiday trips, of which around one quarter were trips outside the country of residence. Highest share of outbound holiday trips in Luxembourg and Belgium and Spain was the top foreign destination of EU residents.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published its figures with regard to the tourism in the EU in 2011. According to these figures, EU residents made 1.0 billion holiday trips, of which around one quarter were trips outside the country of residence (outbound trips). Spain was the top foreign destination of EU residents in 2011 (13% of all outbound trips), followed by Italy and France (both 9%). In June 2012, Eurostat published that the number of business trips fell by 11% between 2008 and 2011 in the EU.

Among the top three destinations of outbound holiday trips, Spain was the preferred holiday destination for residents of Portugal (39% of outbound trips), the United Kingdom (21%) and France (18%), while France was the top destination for residents of Belgium (33%), Luxembourg (23%), Spain and Italy (both 16%), and Italy was the preferred destination for residents of Malta (32%), Austria (22%) and Romania (20%). In addition, Germany was the top destination for holiday trips abroad for residents of the Netherlands (18%), Poland (15%) and Denmark (14%). In all EU member states, the top destination of outbound holiday trips made by residents in 2011 was a neighboring or nearby country, except for residents of Romania (Italy was the top destination of outbound trips), Sweden (Greece) and the United Kingdom (Spain).

With regard to the numbers of outbound holiday trips in 2011, the highest were recorded by residents of Germany (73 million or 34% of holiday trips made by residents), the United Kingdom (44 million or 38%), France (22 million or 11%) and the Netherlands (16 million or 52%). In a majority of member states, most holiday trips were made within the country of residence, while half or more than half of all trips made by residents of Luxembourg (nearly 100% of all holiday trips), Belgium (74%), Slovenia (56%), the Netherlands (52%) and Austria (50%) were trips to a foreign country.