in-cyprus 3 June 2025
Cyprus recorded the second-highest share of foreign tourist overnight stays in the European Union during the first quarter of 2025, with international visitors accounting for 85.7% of total accommodation nights, according to Eurostat data released Monday.
Malta led EU member states with 91.2% of overnight stays from foreign tourists, followed by Cyprus and Luxembourg at 80.4%, the EU’s statistical office reported in its monthly tourism accommodation figures.
The data highlighted significant variations across member states, with foreign visitors representing an EU average of 45.6% of total overnight stays during the three-month period.
Poland recorded the lowest share of foreign tourist nights at 18.6%, followed by Romania and Germany at 20.1% and 20.2% respectively.
EU-wide foreign visitor overnight stays increased marginally by 1.1% compared to the first quarter of 2024, whilst domestic overnight stays declined slightly by 1.3%.
Latvia recorded the largest increase in foreign visitor overnight stays at 18.5%, followed by Malta at 17.2% and Finland at 10.6%. The steepest declines occurred in Ireland (-23.1%), Croatia (-16.7%) and Sweden (-11.5%).
Total EU accommodation nights reached 452.4 million during the first quarter, representing a slight 0.2% decrease compared to the corresponding period in 2024.
Monthly breakdowns showed 139.0 million overnight stays in January (+3.5% year-on-year), 147.7 million in February (-0.8%) and 167.7 million in March (-2.7%).
Eurostat attributed the marginal first-quarter decline to calendar effects, noting different holiday dates caused shifts from February to March for carnival-related school holidays and more significantly from March to April for Easter celebrations.
