Filenews 28 June 2021
The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in the EU fell by 61% between April 2020 and March 2021 (1.1 billion), compared to the 12 months before the pandemic (April 2019 to March 2020: 2.8 billion nights), according to data released today by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.
Among EU Member States with available data (i.e. excluding Ireland, France and Cyprus), the highest decreases occurred in Malta (-80%) and Malta (-80%). and Spain (-78%), followed by Greece (-74%), Portugal (-70%) and Portugal (-70%). At the other end of the scale, the Netherlands and Denmark both reported falls of 36%.
Between April 2020 and March 2021 compared to the previous 12 months, overnight stays by non-residents of the country (international visitors) decreased by 79%, while nights spent by residents decreased by 45%.
During this period, the number of nights spent by international visitors decreased in all EU Member States with data available, with the largest decreases observed in Spain (-90%), Romania (-89%), Hungary and Finland (both -88%) and the Czech Republic (-87%).
Among EU countries, only the inhabitants of Slovenia (+ 25%) Malta (+ 20%) spent more tourist nights in their country compared to the previous 12 months. However, given the small importance of domestic tourism in these countries, this increase could not compensate for the sharp decline in international tourism.
At the same time, in May 2021, the annual inflation rate of the euro area (EA) was 2.0%, compared with 1.6% in April, while annual inflation in the European Union (EU) was 2.3% in May 2021, compared with 2.0% in April.
Since the beginning of 2020, inflation in the EU and the euro area has developed very differently for the different groups of goods and services, with some groups of goods and services more affected than others by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between January 2020 and May 2021, the largest price fluctuations in the EU were reported for the categories 'transport' and 'clothing and footwear'.
Prices for "transport" fell sharply in the first months of 2020 and were 4.9% lower in May 2020 than a year earlier.
However, transport costs started to rise again and by May 2021 prices were 7.3% higher than in May 2020.
In the clothing and footwear category, the annual inflation rate stood at 5.4% in July 2020 and low -2.1 % in December 2020.
Two other categories in the EU fluctuated significantly over the same period: 'food and non-alcoholic beverages' and 'housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels'.
In particular, the annual inflation rate for 'food and non-alcoholic beverages' rose in the first months of 2020 to 4.3% in April 2020 before falling, reaching a low of 0.2% in May 2021.
By contrast, the annual inflation rate for "housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" hit a downward trend in the first months of 2020, with prices 0.6% lower in May 2020 than a year earlier. However, prices started to rise again, raising the inflation rate to 3.7% in May 2021.
Finally, the annual inflation rate for 'transport' ranged from 6.6% in May 2021 to -4.5% in May 2020, for 'clothing and footwear', ranged from 6.3% in July 2020 to -2.2% in December 2020, for 'food and non-alcoholic beverages', from 3.6% in April 2020 to 0% in April 2021, while for 'housing , water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels" ranged from 3.5% in May 2021 to -1.3% in May 2020.
Source: Eyenews/CYP
