Most Popular EU Tourist Destinations by Overnight Stays

Key Takeaways

• The EU recorded 1.45 billion foreign overnight stays in 2024.
• Spain recorded 322 million foreign overnight stays in 2024. This is the highest total of any EU country. It represents 22% of all foreign overnight stays in the EU.
• Four Southern EU countries account for 58% of all foreign overnight stays in the EU: Spain, Italy, France, and Greece. This reflects a long-standing concentration of leisure and coastal infrastructure in Southern EU countries.
• Croatia recorded nearly the same number of foreign overnight stays as Germany in 2024. The country attracts visitors through both a strong summer season and a growing winter season. This results in higher foreign overnight stays relative to population, despite Croatia having a much smaller population than Germany.
• Tourism accounts for around a quarter of Croatia’s GDP. This is among the highest shares of any EU member state. Foreign guests represent more than 90% of all overnight stays in Croatia.

EU Countries Ranked by Foreign Overnight Stays

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Spain Leads in Foreign Overnight Stays Among EU Countries

Spain recorded 322 million foreign overnight stays in 2024. That is just over one in five of every foreign night spent in tourist accommodation across the EU. No other country came close.

Italy ranked second with 254 million foreign overnight stays. The gap between Spain and Italy is approximately 68 million nights. That gap alone is larger than the entire foreign overnight stay total of the Netherlands or Portugal.

Spain’s structural advantages explain the scale. The Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands sit outside the European mainland and have mild winters. They extend the beach tourism season well past the summer months. They draw consistent flows of visitors from Germany, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom throughout the year. Competitive pricing and strong air connectivity have reinforced Spain’s position as the default choice for Northern European leisure tourism.

Croatia and Austria Outrank Germany Despite Much Smaller Populations

Tourism accounts for around a quarter of Croatia’s GDP in 2024. This is one of the highest tourism‑to‑GDP ratios in the EU. Foreign guests represent the majority of all overnight stays in Croatia. Its accommodation sector is built around international demand, not domestic travel.

By contrast, most of Germany’s overnight accommodation activity comes from domestic business and leisure travel. That domestic activity is not counted in this dataset. As a result, Germany’s position here understates its total tourism volume. It does not reflect Germany’s large domestic tourism base.

Austria benefits from a similar dynamic to Croatia. It attracts foreign visitors across two distinct seasons: summer Alpine hiking and winter skiing. Both drive multi-night stays and produce high totals relative to their population. It also outranks Germany, with 94 million foreign overnight stays in 2024, despite having a smaller population. It ranks fifth in the EU in terms of foreign overnight stays. Austria is ahead of Germany by nearly 10 million nights.

Southern EU Countries Account for 58% of EU Foreign Tourism Nights

Spain, Italy, France, and Greece combined recorded 845 million foreign overnight stays in 2024. That is 58% of all foreign overnight stays in the EU. More than half of every foreign night in EU accommodation happened in one of these four countries.

Northern and Eastern EU countries account for a small share. Latvia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg each recorded fewer than 4 million foreign overnight stays. Finland and Romania each recorded under 7 million. The gap between the Mediterranean south and the rest of the EU reflects a long-standing concentration of leisure and coastal infrastructure that Northern and Eastern European destinations have not matched.

The 1.45 billion total in 2024 is the highest on record for the EU. It continues a recovery from the near-complete collapse of international tourism in 2020 and 2021. Southern and Alpine destinations led the rebound. Many Northern and Eastern EU countries are still recording modest absolute figures relative to their pre-pandemic trajectory.