Data published on March 15 by Eurostat, the European Commission's statistics agency, show tourism in the European Union (EU) to have rebounded to close to 2019 levels but with room to grow for international travel.
Measured in number of nights spent in tourism accommodation, the EU's 27 member-states in 2022 recorded 95% of 2019's level and a 49% increase on 2022.
Of the 2.73 billion nights spent in tourism accommodation in 2022, 472 million were recorded in the fourth quarter, 2% less than in the same period in 2019.
Domestic tourism had exceeded 2019 levels, the data show, with 1.53 billion nights compared to 1.51 billion. International travel, which is likely more important for airlines, remained 12% below 2019.
Of the EU's members, Latvia was deemed "furthest from full recovery in terms of nights spent by international guests", with -45% in 2022 compared with 2019, followed by Slovakia at -40% and Lithuania at -37%.
Denmark was the only EU member to record an increase in nights spent by international guests, with Croatia at -2 and Luxembourg at -3% coming close. came close.
Smaller nations, such as Malta, Cyprus and Slovenia, all recorded 20%+ increases in terms of domestic guests compared to the pre-lockdown period starting March 2020.