In 2011, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU27 reached a peak of 1.6 billion nights, up by 3.8% compared with 2010. The evolution of the number of nights spent in hotels in the EU27 showed alternating phases of growth and decline over the last decade. After a low point in 2003, the number of nights spent grew steadily for four successive years. In 2008 and 2009, the number of nights spent in the EU27 fell, but in 2010 began to recover from the crisis to reach a new record in 2011 for both nights spent by residents and by non-residents.

Highest increase in number of hotel nights in the Baltic Member States, Bulgaria and Romania

Among the Member States for which data are available, the highest numbers of nights spent in hotels in 2011 were recorded in Spain (288 million nights, +7.8% compared with 2010), Italy (249 mn, -1.2%), Germany (241 mn, +5.4%), France (202 mn, +3.0%) and the United Kingdom (166 mn, +0.5%). These five Member States accounted for 70% of the total number of hotel nights spent in the EU27.

The number of nights spent in hotels in 2011 increased in all Member States, except Italy (-1.2%). The largest increases were recorded in Lithuania (+19.8%), Bulgaria (+18.3%), Estonia (+14.6%), Latvia (+14.1%) and Romania (+12.9%), and the smallest in the United Kingdom (+0.5%), Austria (+0.6%) and Malta (+0.7%).

Highest number of nights spent by non-residents in Spain and Italy

In 2011, non-residents accounted for 47% of the total number of nights spent in hotels in the EU27 compared with 53% for residents. Apart from the two Mediterranean islands, Malta (96%) and Cyprus (92%), the highest shares of nights spent by non-residents were registered in Estonia (76%), Latvia (75%), Austria (72%) and Bulgaria (71%), and the lowest in Romania (17%), Germany (21%) and Sweden (23%).

In the EU27, the number of hotel nights spent by non-residents grew by 7.3% between 2010 and 2011 and nights spent by residents increased by 1.2%. In 2011, the number of nights spent by non-residents rose in all Member States, with the largest increases in Bulgaria (+19.5%) and Lithuania (+19.3%). The highest numbers of hotel nights spent by non-residents were registered in Spain (177 mn, +14.7% compared with 2010), Italy (116 mn, +3.9%), France (67 mn, +2.3%) and the United Kingdom (61 mn, +3.6%).

The majority of Member States recorded a growth in the number of hotel nights spent by residents in 2011, with the largest increases in Lithuania (+20.6%), Bulgaria (+15.0%) and Romania (+13.4%). The highest numbers of nights spent by residents in hotels were observed in Germany (190 mn, +5.3% compared with 2010), France (135 mn, +3.4%), Italy (133 mn, -5.1%), Spain (111 mn, -1.7%) and the United Kingdom (105 mn, -1.2%).