The European Union is on an ascending course in terms of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments according to the official statistical data provided by Eurostat. 5.9 million more nights (+2.2 %) were spent at tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union in June 2013 compared to the same month in the previous year.
The increase is entirely due to tourists travelling outside their country of residence, with +10.3 million nights, +8.5 % compared to June 2012. However, there was a significant decrease in the number of nights spent by residents (the number decreased by 4.4 million nights, -3.1 %).
The first half of 2013 brought an increase of 1.1 % in the number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments, compared to the same period in 2012, with the segment of hotels and similar establishments recording a growth of 1.5 % in the same period of 2013, compared to January-June 2012.
Bulgaria, Malta, Latvia, Poland, and Lithuania are the top countries with a significant increase in number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments with 11%, 10%, 6.9%, 5.3%, and 4.1% respectively. In terms of increase in the number of hotel and similar accommodation, Greece had the most significant increase, with 19.2%, followed by Poland (15.4%), UK (12.6%), Bulgaria (10.7%), and Malta (9.4%).
Of course there were some European that didn’t record any growth, with an undesired number one place for Liechtenstein (-9.6%), followed by Italy (-7.6%), Czech Republic (-6%), Austria (-4.8%), and Cyprus (-3.9%). The top five countries with the biggest decrease in the number of hotels and similar establishments are: Italy (-5.6%), Cyprus (-3.9%), Austria (-3.3%), Croatia (3.1%), and The Czech Republic (-2.1%).
