Almost a week vacation on average Europeans do in EU countries in 2024 with Greece and Romania recording the most overnight stays.
According to Eurostat the two countries exceeded the EU average (7 nights) by about nine nights, in contrast to Estonia and Belgium where the shortest stays were recorded with 3.1 and 3.6 nights respectively.
Because tourists stay longer
Differences in travel times across the European Union are often linked to access to transport and proximity to other countries, says Euronews.
He says that, for example, the price and distance to reach Greece, Spain and Cyprus, along with their popularity as tourist destinations, encourage tourists to stay longer.
On the other hand, the proximity of Belgium and accessibility to the Netherlands and France make a short visit of a few days more possible.
The highest average cost
In 2024 the highest average expenditure was observed for travel to Cyprus and Greece, two countries that are mostly reached by air travel.
In particular, visitors from other EU countries spent an average of €851, with prices ranging from €344 in Slovakia (a country that receives many tourists from neighboring countries on a short trip) to €1,476 in Cyprus, followed by Greece (€1,370), Ireland (€1,231) and Spain (€1,120).
Looking at the distribution of trips by month of departure, August (12.8%) and July (11.7%) accounted for almost 1 in 4 trips, while January accounted for only 4.5% of intra-EU trips in 2024.
The seasonality of travel
The seasonality of inbound trips by visitors from other EU countries is particularly high in Croatia, where just under half of all inbound trips (44.1%) take place during the two main summer months of July and August. In Greece the share of these months is 34.9%, followed by Bulgaria (34.6%).
Meanwhile, according to a related study by the National Bank of Greece, tourism in Greece has recorded a continuous record in the last 10 years (excluding the pandemic), with international tourist arrivals recording a cumulative increase of 50% of.
period 2016-2025 (from 25 to more than 37 cm).
This successful course is based mainly on structural factors such as the increase in air connections (+ 46% in the period 2015-2024) and the improvement in the quality of the tourist product (increase in the share of 4-5 star beds to 55% in 2024 from 42% in 2015).