In 2011, EU27 residents made 1.2 billion trips for both leisure and business. After a significant increase between 2006 and 2008, the number of trips has since remained almost stable, with a minor decline in 2010, followed by a slight upward trend in 2011. It should be noted that these figures refer to the trips made by EU residents, whether in their own country, to another EU Member State or elsewhere in the world. They do not include trips made by non EU residents to the EU.

Examining holiday and business trips separately, business trips were more affected by the financial crisis than holiday trips. As for total trips, holiday trips made by EU27 residents rose strongly between 2006 and 2008 and then remained nearly stable between 2008 and 2011. In contrast, trips for professional reasons, which accounted for 14% of total trips, registered a continuous decline of 11% by 2011 from the peak of 2008.

These figures come from a publication issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, presenting statistics on tourism in 2011, and which includes other indicators such as number of holiday nights spent, average length of holiday trips and tourist expenditure.

One billion holiday trips made by EU residents in 2011

In 2011, residents of the EU27 made 1 020 million holiday and 165 million business trips. Among the Member States, the highest numbers of both holiday and business trips were recorded by residents of Germany (215 million holiday trips and 56 million business trips), France (204 mn and 21 mn), the United Kingdom (117 mn and 26 mn) and Spain (122 mn and 17 mn). These four Member States accounted for nearly two thirds of all holiday trips and three quarters of all business trips made by EU27 residents in 2011.

From 2008 to 2011, the majority of Member States registered a decline in the number of business trips made by their residents. The largest decreases were found in Bulgaria (-60% from 2008 to 2011) and the Czech Republic (-51%), and the highest rises in Estonia (+50%) and Sweden (+25%). All of the four Member States which accounted for the largest number of business trips made by their residents recorded falls: Spain (-36%), the United Kingdom (-6%), Germany and France (both -2%).

During the same period, a more mixed picture was observed for the number of holiday trips made by residents. The highest growth rates between 2008 and 2011 were recorded in Estonia (+80%) and the Czech Republic (+39%), and the highest falls in Italy (-19%) and Hungary (-13%). Of the four Member States that accounted for the largest
number of holiday trips, the numbers rose in the United Kingdom (+4%) and Spain (+1%), remained almost stable in Germany and fell in France (-4%).

Highest share of domestic holiday trips in Romania, Spain and Portugal

In the EU27, three quarters of the one billion holiday trips made in 2011 were spent within the country of residence, while holiday trips to other countries accounted for the other quarter. The highest shares of domestic trips in 2011 were found in Romania (93% of all holiday trips), Spain (92%) and Portugal (91%). In five Member States, half or more of all holiday trips in 2011 were outbound trips: Luxembourg (nearly 100% of all holiday trips), Belgium (74%), Slovenia (56%), the Netherlands (52%) and Austria (50%).