The highest shares of nights spent by non-residents in 2015 were registered in Malta (96%), Cyprus (94%) and Croatia (92%), Eurostat figures show. Meanwhile, in terms of highest number of nights spent by non-residents Spain tops the list (268 million nights, or 21% of the total of nights spent by non-residents in the EU), followed by Italy (191 mn, or 15%) and France (134 mn, or 11%).
It was noted that "In 2015 the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union (EU) is expected to have reached a new record level of around 2.8 billion nights, up by 3.2% compared with 2014." There has also been a notably steady increase in nights spent in accommodation establishments in the EU since 2009.
Early estimates show that "in 2015, Spain (421 million nights, +4.3% compared with 2014) reinforced its top position in terms of tourism nights, ahead of France (413 mn, +2.8%), Italy (385 mn, +1.8%) and Germany (379 mn, +3.3%)."
The largest growth in terms of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments was observed in Romania (+15.9%), Slovakia (+11.5%) and the Czech Republic (+10.3%), whereas the largest falls were recorded in Lithuania (-7.4%), Latvia (-1.3%) and Bulgaria (-1.1%).