The European statistics agency Eurostat recently released data on the travel habits of EU citizens, revealing the most popular destinations, average holiday durations, and daily spending while traveling.
Leading the list as the top tourism destination of 2015 is the Spanish archipelago, the Canary Islands, located just 100 km west of Morocco. With its sunny beaches, breathtaking mountains, and warm climate, it’s no surprise that the Canaries are a favorite spot. The islands recorded 94 million overnight stays, securing their top position for the second consecutive year.
The top 30 most popular EU destinations include many regions from Spain, France, and Italy. The second most visited area is France’s Île-de-France, which had 76.8 million overnight stays, followed by Spain’s Cataluña with 75.5 million stays.
In addition to the Canaries and Cataluña, Spain has two other regions in the top 10: Balears with 65.2 million nights and Andalucía with 61.4 million nights.
France also has a strong presence in the top 10. Apart from the Île-de-France region, the Côte d’Azur with 54.6 million overnight stays and Rhône-Alpes with 48.7 million nights are also popular destinations.
Although Italy has only one region in the top 10, Veneto with 63.3 million nights, it features prominently in the top 30. Other popular Italian regions include Toscana, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen.
EU citizens spend about 85% of their travel nights within the European Union, averaging 85 EUR per night. Slovakians are the lowest spenders at 46 EUR per night, while Estonians top the list, spending 129 EUR on average per night.
Fewer Europeans choose to travel outside the EU, but the most preferred non-EU destinations are Turkey and the United States, each attracting 13% of travelers, followed by Switzerland with 10%.
British and Estonian citizens are the most likely to travel outside the EU, with 28.4% and 27.9% respectively doing so. They are followed by citizens from Belgium (23.1%), Croatia (20.5%), Lithuania and Austria (20.3% each), and Luxembourg (20.2%).