LUXEMBOURG / EuroWire / — EU tourism nights rose in the first quarter of 2026 as tourist accommodation establishments recorded 471.1 million overnight stays, up 3.4 percent from the same period in 2025, Eurostat said in data released on June 2. The increase covered all three months of the quarter, with 143.5 million nights in January, 154.4 million in February and 173.2 million in March, marking annual gains of 3.2 percent, 3.4 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.
The data showed continued growth across the European Union tourism sector after a record 2025, when tourist accommodation establishments registered about 3.1 billion overnight stays, an annual increase of 2.2 percent. The latest quarterly figures covered hotels, holiday and other short stay accommodation, camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks, giving a broad measure of paid tourism activity across EU member states during the first three months of the year.
Ireland recorded the strongest annual increase in nights spent in tourist accommodation in the first quarter, rising 35.3 percent. Malta followed with an 11.1 percent increase, while Denmark posted a 9.3 percent gain. Nine EU countries recorded declines during the quarter. Lithuania had the steepest fall at 12.9 percent, followed by Romania at 6.7 percent and Luxembourg at 3.8 percent, reflecting uneven national patterns within the overall regional increase.
International guests contributed strongly
Foreign visitors accounted for about 46.6 percent of all overnight stays in EU tourist accommodation during the first quarter of 2026. The share varied widely by country, with Malta recording the highest reliance on foreign guests at 93.3 percent, followed by Cyprus at 85.6 percent and Luxembourg at 85.1 percent. Germany had the lowest foreign visitor share at 19.9 percent, followed by Poland at 20.2 percent and Romania at 22.4 percent.
International tourism grew faster than domestic tourism in the quarter. Nights spent by international tourists reached 219.8 million, while domestic tourists accounted for 251.4 million nights. In absolute terms, international visitors added 11.4 million overnight stays compared with the first quarter of 2025, while domestic tourists added 4.2 million. That means international guests represented nearly three quarters of the additional overnight stays recorded across the EU during the period.
Italy, Spain and Germany led gains
In absolute figures, Italy posted the largest increase in tourist accommodation nights, adding 5.0 million from the first quarter of 2025. Spain added 2.6 million nights, while Germany recorded an increase of 2.0 million. The Netherlands registered the largest absolute decrease, with 0.7 million fewer nights. The pattern underscored the weight of the largest tourism markets in the EU total, even as smaller destinations recorded sharper percentage movements.
Domestic travel remained the larger part of total EU tourism nights in the quarter. Residents in Germany spent 58.5 million nights in tourist accommodation within their own country, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier. France recorded 46.3 million domestic overnight stays. The European Union figures show that the first quarter of 2026 extended the sector’s post 2025 growth path, with higher overnight stays in each month and a stronger contribution from cross border visitors.