Tourists spent 1,321 million nights in accommodation across the EU in the first half of 2026, up 1.7% from 1,299 million in the same period a year earlier.
Ireland recorded the largest increase in overnight stays among member states, rising 14.6% compared with the first six months of 2025, followed by Malta (+9.9%) and Slovakia (+5.9%), Eurostat reported on Tuesday.
Nine EU countries registered falls over the period, with the biggest declines in Cyprus (-7.7%) and Romania (-6.7%).
Foreign visitors accounted for almost half of nights
Foreign visitors — defined as non-residents of the country, from the EU or outside it — made up 48.9% of all overnight stays across the bloc in the first half of 2026, Eurostat said.
The highest shares of foreign guest nights were recorded in Malta (95.2%), Cyprus (92.6%) and Luxembourg (87.7%).
At the other end of the scale, foreign guests accounted for less than a quarter of overnight stays in Germany (18.5%), Poland (19.8%) and Romania (23.0%).
Overnight stays by foreign visitors rose 2.5% compared with the first half of 2025, while nights spent by domestic visitors increased by 0.9%.
