Tourism
trips
In
2012, 85% of trips abroad by EU residents were in Europe
Main
means of transport: by car
In
2012, EU28
residents made 1.2
billion trips of one night or more. Almost half of these trips (48%)
were for holidays and leisure, 35% for visits to relatives and
friends, 13% for business and 4% for other reasons. The average trip
length was 5.2 nights. The most common means of transport for trips
was private or rented cars1
(65%), followed by air planes (15%), trains (12%), buses (6%) and
water vessels (2%).
Of
the number of total trips, 76% were made within the country of
residence (domestic trips), while 24% were made outside (outbound
trips). For
these outbound trips, the main destination for EU28 residents was
clearly Europe
(85.4%), then followed Asia
(4.5%), Africa
(4.1%), North
America (3.8%),
Central and South
America (1.9%) and
Oceania
(0.4%). More specifically, the top 3 destinations for outbound trips
for residents of the EU28
were Spain,
France
and Italy.
Destinations
for outbound trips of EU residents, 2012, (%)
These
figures come from an online publication2,
Tourism trips of
Europeans, from
Eurostat, the
statistical office of the European Union.
This publication has six chapters: characteristics of tourism trips,
participation in tourism, top destinations, seasonality, expenditure
and intra-EU tourism flows.
Highest
share of domestic trips for residents of Romania, Spain and Greece
The
highest shares of trips of EU residents within their country
(domestic trips) were observed in Romania
(95%), Spain
and Greece
(both 92%), Portugal
(90%) and France
(89%). On the other hand, the largest proportions of trips abroad
(outbound trips) were registered by residents of Luxembourg
(97%), Belgium
(78%), Malta
(60%) and Slovenia
(55%).
The
average length of stay varied from more than seven nights for
residents of Greece
(7.5 nights), Cyprus
(7.2) and Belgium
(7.1) to less than four nights for residents of Latvia
(3.1), Finland
(3.4), Denmark
(3.6) and Hungary
(3.7).
Residents
of eleven Member States have Spain in their top three outbound
destination
In
all EU28
Member States, the top destination of outbound trips made by
residents in 2012 was a neighboring or nearby country, except for
residents of Romania
(Italy was the top destination) and the United
Kingdom
(Spain).
Among
the top three outbound destinations of trips, Spain
was among the top three for residents of eleven Member States,
Germany
of ten Member States, Italy
of nine, France
of eight, the United
Kingdom of seven and
Croatia
of four.
Cars are the most common
way of travelling for all Member States with shares ranging from 38%
for residents of Romania to 84% for Slovenia
Cars
were the main means of transport for trips in 2012 for all Member
States except for Malta3,
with the highest shares for residents of Slovenia
(84% of all trips), Portugal
(80%), Spain
(78%), the Czech
Republic (75%),
France
(73%) and Hungary
(71%). For air transport, the highest proportions were observed for
residents of Malta
(57%), Cyprus
(45%), Ireland
(42%), Luxembourg
(36%) and the United
Kingdom (28%), and
for rail Romania
(17%), France
(16%), Germany
and the United
Kingdom (both 14%).
For buses, the largest shares were registered for residents of
Romania
(38%), Bulgaria
(23%) and Estonia
(21%), and for water transport Malta
(43%), Greece
(14%) and Estonia
(13%).
Trips
(business and holiday) made by EU residents*,
2012
|
|
Total
trips, thousands
|
Domestic
trips, %
|
Outbound
trips, %
|
Ave.
length of trips (nights)
|
Top
3 destinations for outbound trips
|
||
|
EU28**
|
1
196 054
|
76.0
|
24.0
|
5.2
|
Spain
|
France
|
Italy
|
|
Belgium
|
12
354
|
22.5
|
77.5
|
7.1
|
France
|
Spain
|
Netherlands
|
|
Bulgaria
|
3
576
|
86.9
|
13.1
|
4.4
|
Greece
|
Turkey
|
Germany
|
|
Czech
Republic
|
32
858
|
81.8
|
18.2
|
4.1
|
Slovakia
|
Croatia
|
Italy
|
|
Denmark
|
29
164
|
73.4
|
26.6
|
3.6
|
Germany
|
Sweden
|
Spain
|
|
Germany
|
247
524
|
66.6
|
33.4
|
5.1
|
Austria
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
|
Estonia
|
2
908
|
60.6
|
39.4
|
4.0
|
Finland
|
Sweden
|
Russia
|
|
Ireland
|
11
592
|
50.2
|
49.8
|
5.3
|
UK
|
Spain
|
France
|
|
Greece
|
7
087
|
91.8
|
8.2
|
7.5
|
Albania
|
UK
|
Germany
|
|
Spain
|
135
648
|
92.0
|
8.0
|
4.7
|
France
|
Portugal
|
Italy
|
|
France
|
225
025
|
89.0
|
11.0
|
5.5
|
Spain
|
Italy
|
Germany
|
|
Croatia
|
8
737
|
69.3
|
30.7
|
5.1
|
Bosnia/Herzeg.
|
Germany
|
Italy
|
|
Italy
|
66
030
|
78.0
|
22.0
|
6.1
|
France
|
Spain
|
UK
|
|
Cyprus
|
2
545
|
53.8
|
46.2
|
7.2
|
Greece
|
UK
|
Russia
|
|
Latvia
|
5
194
|
73.1
|
26.9
|
3.1
|
Lithuania
|
Estonia
|
Germany
|
|
Lithuania
|
4
223
|
59.6
|
40.4
|
4.7
|
Latvia
|
UK
|
Belarus
|
|
Luxembourg
|
1
628
|
3.0
|
97.0
|
6.7
|
France
|
Germany
|
Belgium
|
|
Hungary
|
18
494
|
78.1
|
21.9
|
3.7
|
Germany
|
Austria
|
Romania
|
|
Malta
|
510
|
40.2
|
59.8
|
5.8
|
Italy
|
UK
|
Spain
|
|
Netherlands
|
46
494
|
61.6
|
38.4
|
6.0
|
Germany
|
France
|
Spain
|
|
Austria
|
21
922
|
50.0
|
50.0
|
4.8
|
Germany
|
Italy
|
Croatia
|
|
Poland
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
|
Portugal
|
14
031
|
90.3
|
9.7
|
4.2
|
Spain
|
France
|
UK
|
|
Romania
|
16
824
|
95.4
|
4.6
|
4.3
|
Italy
|
Bulgaria
|
Greece
|
|
Slovenia
|
4
539
|
45.5
|
54.5
|
4.2
|
Croatia
|
Italy
|
Austria
|
|
Slovakia
|
7
166
|
62.5
|
37.5
|
5.3
|
Czech
Republic
|
Croatia
|
Hungary
|
|
Finland
|
39
966
|
77.4
|
22.6
|
3.4
|
Estonia
|
Sweden
|
Spain
|
|
Sweden
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
|
United
Kingdom
|
161
113
|
68.5
|
31.5
|
5.5
|
Spain
|
France
|
USA
|
: Data
not available
u unreliable
* Aged
15 years and over
** EU28 calculated using
estimates for Sweden
Trips made by EU residents*
by main means of transport, 2012, % of total trips
|
|
Cars (private
or hired)1
|
Air
planes
|
Train
|
Bus or coach
|
Water
vessels
|
Other (e.g.
bicycle)
|
|
EU28**
|
64.6
|
15.3
|
11.6
|
5.6
|
1.7
|
1.3
|
|
Belgium
|
58.5
|
26.2
|
9.1
|
4.7
|
1.2
|
u
|
|
Bulgaria
|
66.7
|
4.7
|
4.7
|
23.4
|
0.0
|
u
|
|
Czech
Republic
|
75.2
|
5.8
|
8.1
|
10.4
|
0.0
|
0.6
|
|
Denmark
|
61.8
|
17.5
|
12.0
|
4.7
|
0.9
|
3.1
|
|
Germany
|
60.5
|
16.5
|
14.1
|
4.8
|
1.4
|
2.8
|
|
Estonia
|
47.0
|
14.3
|
(3.5)
|
21.1
|
12.7
|
u
|
|
Ireland
|
46.2
|
42.1
|
4.2
|
3.6
|
3.5
|
0.4
|
|
Greece
|
66.0
|
8.4
|
1.2
|
9.9
|
13.8
|
0.8
|
|
Spain
|
78.0
|
10.7
|
4.7
|
5.5
|
0.9
|
0.3
|
|
France
|
73.3
|
8.6
|
15.6
|
1.7
|
0.4
|
0.3
|
|
Croatia
|
68.7
|
6.3
|
4.6
|
16.9
|
2.3
|
(1.2)
|
|
Italy
|
58.1
|
21.9
|
9.4
|
4.8
|
3.0
|
2.7
|
|
Cyprus
|
51.4
|
44.5
|
-
|
2.4
|
1.7
|
u
|
|
Latvia
|
64.1
|
9.7
|
4.0
|
19.5
|
2.3
|
u
|
|
Lithuania
|
67.3
|
18.8
|
3.3
|
9.1
|
1.2
|
(0.3)
|
|
Luxembourg
|
47.6
|
35.8
|
10.3
|
4.4
|
0.8
|
1.0
|
|
Hungary
|
70.5
|
6.3
|
10.2
|
12.5
|
u
|
0.4
|
|
Malta3
|
0.0
|
57.2
|
-
|
0.0
|
42.8
|
0.0
|
|
Netherlands
|
67.0
|
16.2
|
10.5
|
2.7
|
0.9
|
2.7
|
|
Austria
|
61.1
|
19.4
|
11.9
|
6.4
|
u
|
1.0
|
|
Poland
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
u
|
|
Portugal
|
79.6
|
8.0
|
3.5
|
7.3
|
0.4
|
1.2
|
|
Romania
|
38.5
|
1.4
|
16.7
|
38.1
|
u
|
5.3
|
|
Slovenia
|
83.8
|
7.1
|
2.3
|
5.8
|
(0.6)
|
u
|
|
Slovakia
|
58.4
|
12.2
|
10.7
|
18.4
|
u
|
u
|
|
Finland
|
61.6
|
14.4
|
10.2
|
4.2
|
9.5
|
(0.2)
|
|
Sweden
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
|
United
Kingdom
|
50.8
|
28.3
|
13.5
|
4.1
|
3.0
|
0.3
|
: Data
not available
- Not
applicable
u unreliable
(
) reduced reliability
* Aged
15 years and over
** EU28 calculated using
estimates for Sweden
1. This group includes
predominantly cars, but also other motor vehicles, such as
motorcycles, mobile homes and mini vans.
2. For more information see
the Statistics explained article on the Eurostat website:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php?title=Tourism_trips_of_Europeans&stable=0&redirect=no
The chapters on expenditure and intra-EU tourism flows will become
available shortly.
3. Domestic
trips in Malta are travel between the two islands (Malta and Gozo)
and the only means of transport available is by ferry.
Published
by: Eurostat Press
Office
Louise
CORSELLI-NORDBLAD
Tel:
+352-4301-33 444
For
further information:
Krista
DIMITRAKOPOULOU
Tel:
+352-4301-33 298
