Total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments during July 2016 declined by 3.2 and 5.4 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding month in 2015.
Data published by the National Statistics Office shows that, in July, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 164,004, while total nights spent amounted to 1,031,180.
Collective accommodation categories registered decreases in total nights spent, with the exception of 4-star hotels. The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels, accounting for 486,868 nights, or 47.2 per cent of the total.
The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments went down to 6.3 nights in July 2016 from 6.4 nights in the same month of 2015. The net use of bed-places stood at 81.6 per cent, down by 1.9 percentage points when compared to the corresponding month last year.
On a national level, there were 176 active collective accommodation establishments during July, with a net capacity of 18,095 bedrooms and 40,746 bed-places.
January-July Total guests during the first seven months of 2016 amounted to 905,909, an increase of 0.7 per cent over the same period in 2015.
Total nights spent went up by 0.6 per cent, surpassing 5.0 million (Table 2). The net use of bed-places declined by 0.6 percentage points to 62.2 per cent.
Tourism at an EU level
1 in 5 tourism nights of EU residents spent by tourists aged 65 or over… with a generally lower average expenditure.
With over 1.2 billion nights spent during their trips all over the world in 2014, tourists aged 65 or over (hereafter "older tourists") living in the European Union (EU) accounted for 20% of the tourism activity (in terms of number of nights spent by EU residents). However, their share in tourism expenditure was a bit lower, standing at 16%. Indeed, an older tourist in the EU spent on average €52.6 per day, or €12.7 less than the average tourist.
In general, older tourists in the EU favour domestic holidays, which accounted for two-thirds (66%) of all their tourism nights (compared with 59% for all tourists), while outbound tourism represented a third (34%) in 2014. This pattern can be observed for a majority of Member States
On the occasion of the World Tourism Day (27 September), whose theme this year is "Tourism for all: promoting universal accessibility", Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes a selection of data on participation in tourism of older people residing in the EU. An infographic on origins and destinations of tourists is also available on the Eurostat website.