Spain tops foreign holiday destinations for EU residents

In 2011, EU27 residents made 1.0 billion holiday trips, of which around one quarter were outside the country of residence (outbound trips).

Spain was the top foreign destination of EU27 residents in 2011 (13% of all outbound trips), followed by Italy and France (both 9%).

It should be noted that these figures refer to trips made by EU residents. They do not include trips made by non-EU residents to the EU.

These figures are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Among the Member States, the highest numbers of outbound holiday trips in 2011 were recorded by residents of Germany (73 million or 34% of holiday trips made by residents), the United Kingdom (44 million or 38%), France (22 million or 11%) and the Netherlands (16 million or 52%).

These four Member States accounted for almost two thirds of all outbound holiday trips made by EU27 residents.

In a majority of Member States, most holiday trips were made within the country of residence, while half or more than half of all trips made by residents of Luxembourg (nearly 100% of all holiday trips), Belgium (74%), Slovenia (56%), the Netherlands (52%) and Austria (50%) were trips to a foreign country.

In all EU27 Member States, the top destination of outbound holiday trips made by residents in 2011 was a neighboring or nearby country, except for residents of Romania (Italy was the top destination of outbound trips), Sweden (Greece) and the United Kingdom (Spain).

Among the top three destinations of outbound holiday trips, Spain was the preferred holiday destination for residents of Portugal (39% of outbound trips), the United Kingdom (21%) and France (18%), while France was the top destination for residents of Belgium (33%), Luxembourg (23%), Spain and Italy (both 16%), and Italy was the preferred destination for residents of Malta (32%), Austria (22%) and Romania (20%).

In addition, Germany was the top destination for holiday trips abroad for residents of the Netherlands (18%), Poland (15%) and Denmark (14%).