Newsletters
Türkiye ranked among the three most popular destinations outside the European Union for trips made by EU residents in 2024, according to data released by Eurostat.
The United Kingdom, Türkiye, and Switzerland emerged as the leading non-EU destinations by number of trips, highlighting the strong role nearby countries continued to play in Europeans' travel choices.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office, reported that EU residents made around 1.2 billion tourism trips during the year and spent nearly 6 billion nights away from home. Their overall tourism expenditure reached EUR 618 billion ($713 billion).
Travel within the bloc continued to make up the largest share of international tourism by EU residents, with almost 73% of foreign trips taking place inside EU member states.
Among destinations beyond the bloc, the UK, Türkiye, and Switzerland drew the highest number of trips.
Eurostat said proximity remained an important factor in the choice of foreign destinations, with neighboring or nearby countries generally attracting more travelers.
Trips outside the European continent, meanwhile, accounted for 13.1% of all foreign trips made by EU residents. Africa represented 4.5%, Asia 4.2%, and the Americas 4.1%.
When both EU and non-EU destinations were considered, Italy came out as the most popular foreign destination for EU residents in 2024, accounting for 10.7% of all foreign trips.
Spain followed closely behind with a 10.4% share.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
3 min read
