Travelers who arrange their own trips use a broad accommodation mix, from hotels and rented apartments to campsites, holiday homes and stays with relatives. In 2024, hotels and similar properties accounted for 31.2% of all tourism nights taken by EU residents, while rented houses, villas, apartments or rooms represented 16.9%. Platform-booked short stays added a large and growing channel: guests booked 951.6 million nights through major online platforms in the EU and EFTA in 2025.
Contents
- The overall EU accommodation mix
- Foreign and intra-EU accommodation choices
- Hotels, short-stay rentals and campsites
- What platform bookings show
- Where accommodation preferences differ
- Great Britain domestic overnight choices
The overall EU accommodation mix
Eurostat’s Tourism statistics - characteristics of tourism trips describes where EU residents spent their tourism nights during 2024. The figures cover nights rather than individual trips, so a longer stay contributes more nights than a shorter one.
Hotels and similar accommodation accounted for 31.2% of all tourism nights. Accommodation provided free by relatives or friends was nearly as large, at 27.3%. Rented houses, villas, apartments or rooms in dwellings accounted for 16.9%, showing the substantial role of self-arranged and residential-style accommodation in the overall market.
EU residents spent 11.9% of their tourism nights in their own holiday homes. Campsites, caravans and trailer parks represented 5.5%, while other rented accommodation accounted for 4.6%. Other non-rented accommodation made up the remaining 2.6%.
| Accommodation type | Share of EU residents’ tourism nights, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Hotels and similar accommodation | 31.2% |
| Free accommodation from relatives or friends | 27.3% |
| Rented houses, villas, apartments or rooms | 16.9% |
| Own holiday homes | 11.9% |
| Campsites, caravans and trailer parks | 5.5% |
| Other rented accommodation | 4.6% |
| Other non-rented accommodation | 2.6% |
Looking only at rented accommodation changes the picture. Hotels represented 53.5% of EU residents’ rented tourism nights in 2024. Rented accommodation other than hotels or campsites represented 37.0% of rented tourism nights. This distinction matters for independent travelers because the wider accommodation market includes free stays and owned properties, while a booking decision usually compares paid alternatives.
Source: Eurostat, Tourism statistics - characteristics of tourism trips, 2024.
Foreign and intra-EU accommodation choices
Accommodation preferences shifted toward paid commercial options on foreign trips. Hotels and similar accommodation accounted for 42.8% of EU residents’ tourism nights on foreign trips in 2024, compared with 31.2% across all tourism nights. Rented houses, villas, apartments or rooms represented 19.8% of foreign-trip nights, also above the all-trip share of 16.9%.
Campsites accounted for 5.6% of nights on foreign trips. Other rented accommodation represented 3.7%, while own holiday homes accounted for 6.2%. Free accommodation provided by relatives or friends represented 18.7% of foreign-trip nights, and other non-rented accommodation represented 3.1%.
The intra-EU figures give a related but distinct view. On trips to other EU countries, EU residents spent 39% of tourism nights in hotels and similar accommodation in 2024. Rented houses, villas or apartments accounted for 25%, campsites for 7%, own holiday homes for 8%, and free accommodation provided by friends or relatives for 14%.
The two Eurostat sources use different categories and scopes, so their percentages should be read within their respective measures rather than combined into a single ranking. Together, they show that foreign and cross-border travel commonly includes a substantial hotel and rental component, while campsites and personal networks remain important alternatives.
Source: Eurostat, Tourism statistics - characteristics of tourism trips, 2024. Source: Eurostat, Tourism statistics - intra-EU tourism flows, 2024.
Hotels, short-stay rentals and campsites
Eurostat’s Tourism statistics - annual results for the accommodation sector recorded 3,021,780 thousand nights in EU tourist accommodation establishments in 2024. That total was 2.7% higher than in 2023 and 5.1% above the 2019 level.
Hotels and similar accommodation recorded 1,897,527 thousand nights in 2024. Hotel nights increased 3.0% from 2023 to 2024 and were 2.3% above 2019 levels. Hotels therefore remained the largest measured accommodation-establishment segment, but their increase above 2019 was smaller than the sector-wide change.
Holiday and other short-stay accommodation recorded 715,395 thousand nights. Its nights increased 3.1% from 2023 to 2024 and were 8.7% above 2019 levels. Camping grounds, recreational-vehicle parks and trailer parks recorded 408,858 thousand nights. Camping nights increased 0.4% year over year and were 12.9% above 2019 levels.
| EU accommodation-establishment segment | Nights in 2024 | Change from 2023 | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total tourist accommodation | 3,021,780 thousand | +2.7% | +5.1% |
| Hotels and similar accommodation | 1,897,527 thousand | +3.0% | +2.3% |
| Holiday and other short-stay accommodation | 715,395 thousand | +3.1% | +8.7% |
| Camping, recreational-vehicle and trailer parks | 408,858 thousand | +0.4% | +12.9% |
These are establishment-night measures for the EU in 2024, not a forecast and not a direct measure of the number of independent travelers. They are useful for showing the scale and recent direction of the accommodation supply used by tourists. The 2019 comparisons also indicate that the recovery was uneven by segment: camping was 12.9% above 2019, short-stay accommodation was 8.7% above, and hotels were 2.3% above.
Source: Eurostat, Tourism statistics - annual results for the accommodation sector, 2024.
What platform bookings show
Online platform data captures a specific part of the short-stay market and offers a more current view of independently arranged accommodation. In 2025, guests booked 951.6 million short-stay accommodation nights through major online platforms in the EU and EFTA. Platform-booked nights increased 11.4% from 2024 to 2025.
An average of 2.6 million tourists per night stayed in platform-booked accommodation in 2025. Each platform booking averaged 11 guest nights, combining party size and stay length; this is not the same as an 11-night stay by one person.
International travel was prominent in the platform channel. International tourists accounted for 591.7 million guest nights, or 62.2% of EU platform-booked guest nights, in 2025. International guests supplied more than 90% of platform-booked nights in 8 of the 31 EU and EFTA countries covered. In Liechtenstein, Iceland and Malta, international guests accounted for at least 96% of platform-booked nights.
The regional totals were concentrated in popular destination areas. Andalucía recorded 50.3 million platform-booked guest nights in 2025, the highest total among EU NUTS 2 regions. Jadranska Hrvatska recorded 39.5 million, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur recorded 33.5 million. The 20 leading EU NUTS 2 regions together represented 47.1% of platform-booked guest nights.
For an independent traveler, these figures describe the scale of a booking route rather than a preference for one particular property type. They do show how strongly online platforms connect international visitors with short-stay accommodation, especially in concentrated destination regions.
Source: Eurostat, Short-stay accommodation offered via online platforms, 2025.
Where accommodation preferences differ
The EU market is not uniform. In 2024, hotels covered more than 90% of the tourist-accommodation market in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta. In contrast, holiday homes accounted for more than 40% of tourist-accommodation nights in Croatia, Belgium and Lithuania.
Campsites accounted for more than 30% of tourist-accommodation nights in Luxembourg, France and Denmark. These country groupings describe the share of tourist-accommodation nights, so they should not be interpreted as a universal preference for every traveler or every destination within a country.
The post-2019 pattern also differed by country. Ireland’s tourist-accommodation nights were 27.9% above 2019 levels in 2024. The Netherlands was 17.7% above 2019, and Luxembourg was 16.4% above 2019. These are measured changes in accommodation-establishment nights between 2019 and 2024, not forecasts.
For trip planning, the geographic differences suggest that the same independent traveler may encounter very different accommodation landscapes. A hotel-led market, a holiday-home-led market and a camping-led market can each offer a different balance of choices, even before considering a specific city or region.
Source: Eurostat, Tourism statistics - annual results for the accommodation sector, 2024.
Great Britain domestic overnight choices
The Great Britain Tourism Survey provides a separate domestic picture for the first half of 2024. Serviced accommodation represented 40% of Britain’s domestic overnight trips, totaling 19.0 million trips. Private-home accommodation represented 33%, or 15.7 million trips.
Commercial property rentals represented 12% of domestic overnight trips, totaling 5.8 million trips. Caravan, camping and glamping represented 10%, totaling 4.8 million trips. Other or unspecified accommodation represented 5%, or 2.2 million trips.
| Great Britain domestic accommodation category | Share of overnight trips | Trips, H1 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Serviced accommodation | 40% | 19.0 million |
| Private-home accommodation | 33% | 15.7 million |
| Commercial property rentals | 12% | 5.8 million |
| Caravan, camping and glamping | 10% | 4.8 million |
| Other or unspecified accommodation | 5% | 2.2 million |
The spending pattern differed from the trip pattern. Serviced accommodation captured 52% of Britain’s domestic overnight-trip spend in H1 2024, or £6,797 million. Commercial property rentals captured 17%, or £2,252 million, while private-home accommodation also captured 17%, or £2,206 million.
These Great Britain figures measure domestic overnight trips and associated spend during H1 2024. They are not directly comparable with EU tourism-night shares because the geography, period and unit of measurement differ. They do, however, provide a clear example of how accommodation categories can rank differently when measured by trips versus spending.
Source: VisitBritain, Great Britain Tourism Survey: Overnight Trips 2024, H1 2024.