Eurostat: Tourism and Travel Spending in the EU Pick Up in 2022

Balos Beach, Greece.

Travel in the EU picked up pace in 2022 compared to a year earlier with 1.08 billion people going on leisure trips and spending at least one overnight stay in 2022, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical authority.

More specifically, the number of EU residents going on vacation in 2022 increased by 23 percent or 202 million compared to 2021. Of that total, 91 percent of the trips in 2022 (976 million) were made for personal reasons marking a 21 percent rise while the remaining 100 million were for professional reasons, up by 43 percent over 2021.

Tourism trips by Europeans 2013 – 2022
Source: Eurostat

Compared with pre-Covid 2019, however, recovery for personal trips was still down by 4 percent and for business travel by 20 percent.

In terms of spending, EU residents spent an average of 87 euros per night with at least one overnight stay in 2022, marking a 30 percent increase compared with 2021, when they spent an average of 67 euros.

Spending managed to exceed 2019 levels by 4 percent when average spending per night was at 84 euros and 2013 levels (€66). by 31 percent.

Tourism Average Expenditure per Night for 2022 / Source: Eurostat

In 2022, the highest-spending travelers were those from Luxembourg at 175 euros per night, followed by Austrian tourists (154 euros), and Estonian tourists (128 euros).

Travelers from Poland, Greece and Czechia spent the least, under 50 euros. More specifically, Poland (44 euros), Greece (44.9 euros) and Czechia (46 euros).