Signs of recovery of the tourism sector in summer 2021

In the summer of 2021, tourism showed signs of recovery following the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

August 2021 showed the most promising signs of recovery to pre-COVID figures in terms of the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU, such as hotels, holiday and other short-stay accommodation, and campsites. August 2021 recorded a 20% decline when compared with August 2019, whereas August 2020 had seen a 30% decline when compared with August 2019. These signs of recovery were also seen in July (-29% in 2021; -40% in 2020) and in June (-51%; -70%).

At the other end of the scale, throughout 2021, April recorded the largest fall in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation (-81% when compared with April 2019). However, April 2020 had seen a 95% decline when compared with April 2019.

During the three summer months, from June to August 2021, 856 million nights were spent in EU tourist accommodation, a decline of 31% compared with the pre-covid summer of 2019. The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments declined across all Member States in July-August 2021 when compared with 2019, ranging from -48% in Greece to -5% in the Netherlands. The decline was more than 25% for 10 out of 24 Member States with available data.

Compared with 2020, however, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in June-August 2021 increased in almost all Member States with available data . Only Latvia showed a decline (-16%).

In June-August 2021, the decline in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation was stronger for international guests (-54% compared to the same period in 2019) than for domestic guests (-10%).

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Euraxess