In eight of the 28 EU countries, residents spent more than half of their tourism spending during 2017 on domestic travel. The highest share of domestic expenditure was observed for Romania (79%) and Greece (76%), followed by Spain (66%), France and Portugal (both 65%) and Bulgaria and Italy (both 64%).

However, in the majority of countries, most of the tourism expenditure was spent on foreign destinations with residents of Luxembourg (99%), Belgium (93%) and Malta (92%) reaching more than 90% of their tourism spending on such trips .

According to the data, Luxembourg residents spent most per holiday trip, about €769, followed by residents of Austria (approximately €641) and Malta (€633). Cypriots are among the big spenders with €600, a much higher amount than the EU average of €377.

The top destinations for Cypriot tourists are Greece and the UK.

Residents of Denmark also spent most per night, €162. Ranked second and third are Austria and Malta respectively. Cypriots spent €94 per night.

In all countries, most spending on tourism occurred on longer trips for four or more nights (EU average: 72%). Only in the case of Sweden (figures for 2016) were travel costs for short trips from one to three nights longer than for long trips, followed by Finland, where the share of short travel costs was higher compared to with other member states for long trips.

Europeans traveling to other continents spent most on travelling to the US (8% of total EU spending on tourist travel), followed by Asia (6%), Africa (3%) and Oceania (1%). European destinations outside the EU accounted for about 4% of all EU residents’ tourist spending.

Accommodation accounted for 37% of tourism expenditure, while transport accounted for 31% and miscellaneous expenses 32%. For domestic and outbound excursions separately, the share of transport costs was 11 percentage points higher for overseas trips than for domestic trips. The difference in the share of accommodation costs was less significant (+4 percentage points for outbound travel).

The average cost of trips to hotels was €581 (compared to the total average of €377), while trips to private holiday homes cost an average of €189 and those spent on accommodation provided free of charge by friends or relatives €160.

EU residents spent around €467 billion on travel for tourism purposes in 2017.

German, French and British tourists were the biggest consumers in absolute terms. Their expenditure accounted for 58% of all EU tourist spending.

Source: Cyprus Mail