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Growth of tourist overnight stays in the EU, Croatia second in foreign growth

In tourist accommodation facilities in the EU, a total of 452.6 million overnight stays were recorded in the first quarter, 7 percent more than in the same period in 2023, and Croatia ranks second among all member states with the highest increase in foreign overnight stays, according to Eurostat data.

Most of the total overnight stays, or 55 percent, were achieved in the early months of 2024 by domestic tourists in their own countries, which is 4 percent more than in the same period in 2023, while the remaining 45 percent refers to overnight stays of foreign tourists, which, according to Eurostat, increased by 11 percent in accommodation facilities across the EU in the first quarter.

The highest increase in foreign tourist overnight stays in the EU, according to Eurostat data, was recorded in Cyprus, at 28 percent, and in Croatia at 22 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Malta and Luxembourg follow with increases in foreign overnight stays of 21 percent each, while the smallest increase was in Lithuania, Poland, and Greece, all at 3 percent.

Malta and Luxembourg recorded the highest share of foreign tourist overnight stays among all EU countries in the first three months of 2024, at 91 and 82 percent, respectively, while Cyprus, with an 87 percent increase compared to 2023, positioned itself between these two countries, with Austria fourth at 78 percent share of foreign tourist overnight stays.

By this share, Portugal ranks fifth, and Croatia sixth with a share of foreign overnight stays in total of about 70 percent, followed by Spain, Slovenia, Latvia, Belgium, and others, while at the bottom of this ‘list’ are Germany, Romania, and Poland with shares of foreign overnight stays in total of about 20 percent.

In addition to countries, Eurostat also reports that in each month of the first quarter of 2024, there was an increase in tourist overnight stays at the EU level compared to the same period in 2023 – in January by 3 percent, in February by 6, and in March by 9 percent.

Among the types of tourist accommodation facilities, hotels stand out, in which the EU recorded 6 percent or 18 million more hotel overnight stays in the first three months of 2024 compared to the previous year.

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