The European Union's tourism industry is progressing in recovering from the consequences of the Corona pandemic. According to Eurostat, the statistics office, the number of overnight stays in EU accommodation facilities has reached its highest level in the past ten years during the first half of this year. The report shows that 1.193 billion overnight stays have been recorded in accommodation establishments such as hotels, holiday homes, or campsites in the first six months of this year.
According to Eurostat, there has been a 12.9% increase in the number of tourists during the first half of this year compared to last year. However, compared to the same period in 2019, before the Corona pandemic, there has only been an increase of 0.9 percent. Additionally, each month of the first half of 2023 surpassed last year's figures. A particular point of interest was that January saw an increase of 45 percent, and February saw a 27 percent increase.
On the other hand, things look different in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the pre-Corona crisis level was not reached in January, February, March, April, and June compared to 2019. Only in May did more tourists stay overnight in Germany than in the same month in 2019.
Eurostat has announced an increase in overnight stays in all EU countries for 2023, except Hungary, compared to 2022. The EU member states that saw the strongest annual increase in overnight stays in tourist accommodation were Cyprus (up by 39.3 percent), Malta (up by 30.5 percent), and Slovakia (up by 28.7 percent).
