Tourists in EU countries recorded just over three billion overnight stays in 2024, an increase of 2.2% or 65.4 million compared to 2023. This growth was primarily driven by international tourists and an increase in the last quarter, according to Eurostat data, which places Croatia in ninth place among EU member states with over 108 million overnight stays.

Eurostat commented that 2024 was a record-breaking year, describing it as the “best tourism year for the EU” in terms of overnight stays in tourist accommodation. This was largely due to a nearly 5% rise in international tourist stays, while domestic overnight stays saw only a slight decline of 0.1%.

Almost 62% of total overnight stays were concentrated in four countries, which rank among the world’s top tourism destinations—Spain, leading with 500 million overnight stays, followed by Italy with 458 million, France with 451 million, and Germany with 441 million.

The fewest overnight stays in tourist accommodations were recorded in Luxembourg (3.4 million), Latvia (4.7 million), and Estonia (6.6 million).

Croatia ranked ninth in terms of overnight stays, positioned behind Poland, which had a similar number, and ahead of Portugal.

When comparing overnight stays in 2024 with 2023 on a country-by-country basis, Malta saw the highest increase, with a 14.4% rise, followed by Latvia at 7.4%. Conversely, only a few countries saw a decline, including Luxembourg (-2.7%), France (-0.6%), Belgium (-0.2%), and Sweden (-0.1%).

The strong performance throughout 2024 was significantly influenced by the last quarter, during which nearly all EU countries recorded an increase in overnight stays compared to the same period in 2023. Overall, overnight stays in EU member states rose by 5.1% in Q4.

Ireland was the only country where overnight stays declined in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a drop of around 2% compared to 2023. Meanwhile, Croatia was among the top four countries with the highest quarterly growth, ranking fourth with a 10.2% increase in overnight stays. Malta led with a 16.5% rise, followed by Latvia (12.5%) and Italy (11.1%).

In total, more than half a billion overnight stays were recorded across the EU in Q4 2024, marking an increase of 5.1% or 25.4 million compared to the same period in 2023.

By month, the highest number of overnight stays was recorded in October (227 million), followed by December (150 million) and November (145 million).