Tourist accommodation across the European Union recorded 3.14 billion guest nights in 2025, up 4.1% from the previous year, according to annual figures released by Eurostat on October 16.
The increase amounted to about 123 million additional nights. Holiday and other short-stay accommodation expanded faster than hotels, giving businesses a more detailed picture of where demand grew.
The figures cover stays in hotels and similar establishments, holiday accommodation and campsites. They measure overnight stays rather than the number of individual travelers or the money they spent.
Short stays outpace hotels
Eurostat’s annual accommodation report shows that nights in holiday and other short-stay accommodation rose 9.2%. Campsites recorded a 5.8% increase, while hotels and similar establishments grew 1.7%.
Hotels remained the largest category, accounting for 61.4% of nights. Holiday and other short-stay accommodation represented 24.8%, with camping making up the remaining 13.8%.
The category differences matter to operators and suppliers. An increase concentrated in apartments, holiday properties or campsites may create different demand for cleaning, booking systems and equipment than an equivalent increase in hotel stays.
The short-stay category should not be treated as a count of bookings through particular online platforms. It is an accommodation classification.
Most demand comes from within Europe
In its October 16 release, Eurostat said domestic visitors and guests from other EU countries accounted for 80.9% of all nights. Visitors from other European countries contributed another 10.4%.
Guests from the Americas accounted for 4.9%, compared with 2.6% from Asia. Nights by visitors from Asia increased 15.4%, although that growth started from a much smaller base than European demand.
For accommodation businesses, this suggests that a strong overseas growth rate needs to be considered alongside the size of the customer group. Nearby and domestic markets still supplied most of the recorded overnight business.
Across the EU, tourism intensity reached seven accommodation nights per resident, compared with 6.7 in 2024. Croatia, Malta and Cyprus recorded the highest ratios. The measure compares visitor activity with the resident population; it does not directly measure profitability or pressure at a particular destination.
More nights do not necessarily mean higher margins
The figures complement MBN’s recent reporting on EU residents’ spending on foreign and domestic trips. That dataset follows residents’ travel expenditure, while the new release measures nights in accommodation located within the EU.
Neither rising nights nor higher spending alone establishes that operators earned better margins. Room prices, staffing costs, occupancy patterns and the mix of properties also affect commercial performance.
There is a comparability qualification too. Eurostat says changes in coverage in Italy and Lithuania affected the 2025 statistics, so some reported growth reflects improved measurement. Business plans should therefore use local and accommodation-specific figures alongside the EU headline.
