According to fresh data from Eurostat, Cyprus ranked among the top three EU countries in terms of the share of overnight stays by foreign tourists. In the first three months of 2025, 85.7% of all overnight stays on the island were by international travelers — one of the highest rates in the European Union.
Malta led the list with 91.2% of overnight stays by foreigners, followed by Cyprus and then Luxembourg, where the share was 80.4%.
For comparison, the EU average for foreign overnight stays in this period was 45.6%. The gap between countries was significant: Poland recorded only 18.6%, while Romania and Germany saw 20.1% and 20.2%, respectively.
Overall, the EU saw a moderate increase in international overnight stays in Q1 2025 — up by 1.1% compared to the same period in 2024. At the same time, domestic tourism slightly declined, with overnight stays by local residents dropping by 1.3%.
The most notable growth in international stays was observed in Latvia (+18.5%), Malta (+17.2%), and Finland (+10.6%). Meanwhile, several countries experienced a decline in foreign tourist numbers: Ireland saw a 23.1% drop, Croatia –16.7%, and Sweden –11.5%.
Between January and March 2025, tourists spent a total of 452.4 million nights in accommodation establishments across the EU — 0.2% less than during the same period in 2024. January was the busiest month, with 139 million overnight stays (up 3.5% year-on-year). In February, the figure was 147.7 million (down 0.8%), and in March, 167.7 million (down 2.7%).
According to Eurostat, this slight overall decline is attributed to calendar shifts in 2025 — including public holidays, school breaks, and Carnival festivities moving from February to March, as well as Easter falling in April, which redistributed tourist activity throughout the quarter.
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