Greece Among Top 10 in Europe for Overnight Stays in First Half of 2024

Photo source: Eurostat

With over 50 million overnight stays at tourist accommodations in the first six months of 2024, Greece ranked 7th among 35 European countries, according to recent statistics released by Eurostat.

According to the European statistical office, Spain maintained its top position with more than 211 million overnight stays during the same period, reflecting a 4 percent increase compared to the first six months of 2023. Germany ranked second with over 195 million overnight stays, followed by France in third place with over 181 million, and Italy in fourth with nearly 179 million. The Netherlands and Austria came in fifth and sixth, with around 65 million and 64 million stays, respectively.

Greece, showing a 3.7 percent increase over the first six months of 2023, firmly held the seventh spot in Europe and ranked 4th in Southern Mediterranean destinations, behind Spain, France, and Italy.

In Greece specifically, 41,551,364 overnight stays in the first half of 2024 were attributed to international visitors, while 9,282,967 were from domestic travelers.

Following Greece, Poland recorded 41 million overnight stays, Portugal 38 million, and Sweden nearly 27 million during the first half of 2024.

Greece’s competitors

In terms of Greece’s competitors in Europe, besides Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy, Croatia recorded 24 million overnight stays in the first six months of 2024, reflecting a 3.3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Neighboring Albania, while registering a smaller absolute number of overnight stays — 2,334,532 in the first half of 2024 — saw an impressive 37.2 percent increase over the same period.

The big picture in Europe

Across the 35 European countries, a record-breaking 1.2 billion overnight stays were recorded at tourist accommodations during the first half of 2024.

According to Eurostat, this represents an increase of 26.6 million stays compared to the first six months of 2023, marking a 2.2 percent growth.

Compared to the first half of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, overnight stays in Europe rose by 50.8 million, reflecting a 4.3 percent increase.

Notably, overnight stays by foreign travelers in the EU reached 586 million between January and June 2024, up 5.3 percent from 556.8 million in the same period of 2023.

In contrast, domestic travel within EU countries saw a slight decrease of 0.5 percent during the same period, yet still remained at 646.7 million overnight stays, significantly higher than those made by foreign travelers.