The number of international tourist arrivals to the selected European destinations increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, experiencing strong signs of recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in some cases even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Overall, Paris and the Île-de-France region recorded the highest figure among the selected destinations in 2023, with around **** million inbound tourist arrivals. London and Istanbul followed in the ranking that year, with roughly **** million and **** million arrivals, respectively. What are the most visited countries by international tourists? Both before and after the health crisis, France was the country with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. In 2023, inbound arrivals to France reached *** million, the highest figure reported by the country to date. Meanwhile, the United States, which ranked third by inbound arrivals that year, was the country with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide. Has inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? While the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide grew sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year, it remained approximately ** percent lower than in 2019. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global GDP was **** percent below pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

Florence, the famous Italian city, was the best-rated European city by readers of a U.S. travel magazine in 2024, scoring 90.55 out of 100 points. Funchal, in the Portuguese island of Madeira, ranked second with 89.82 points.

The number of international tourist arrivals in Europe rose significantly in 2023 compared to the previous year across all the most visited destinations in the region. Overall, France was the most visited country by inbound travelers in Europe in 2023. That year, France - which also topped the ranking of the countries with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide - reported *** million international tourist arrivals, the highest figure recorded by the destination to date. Spain, Italy, and Turkey followed on the list in 2023. Europe is the most popular region for inbound tourism Europe is the region with the highest number of inbound tourism arrivals worldwide, with over *** million arrivals in 2023. Comparatively, there were nearly *** million international tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific, the second-most visited global region by inbound travelers that year. When breaking down the number of inbound arrivals in Europe by sub-region, Southern and Mediterranean countries reported the highest figures, both before and after the impact of COVID-19. Travel & Tourism Development Index France and Spain, among the most popular travel destinations in Europe in terms of inbound arrivals, were also among the leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI). The TTDI index measures factors and policies that support a sustainable and resilient development of travel and tourism worldwide. In 2023, Spain ranked first with a TTDI score of ****, followed by France and Germany.

Poles were the most likely to buy airline tickets to European cities on the FRU platform in the summer of 2024. Among them, European capitals were mainly popular.

This statistic shows the number of international overnight visitors in the most popular European city destinations in 2016. London had the largest number of international overnight visitors in 2016 with 19.06 million.

In 2016, London had the second most international overnight visitors. In that same year, London ranked as the third leading city in terms of international visitor spending in the world. In 2016, some 858 thousand international overnight visitors to London came from New York, United States.

Visit a European Union institutionThe European Union institutions are open to visitors from around the world to learn more about the EU and get an understanding of their work. With sites in several major European cities, the institutions offer a variety of options to visitors. Some institutions provide interactive on-site visitor centres, some allow physical access to their buildings, and some organise tailor-made presentations and discussions involving their staff.Whatever form a visit to an EU institution takes, visitors are guaranteed an interactive and educational experience. Students and tourists alike will see and learn first-hand how the EU works. And have fun, too.

More info: https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/visit-european-union-institution_en

Madrid was the most visited city destination in Spain in 2023, having welcomed nearly ** million overnight visitors. The Catalonian capital followed second in the ranking that year, with roughly *** million tourists spending at least one night in the destination. How did Madrid rank in tourist visits and accommodation? In 2022, Madrid attracted over 4.5 million domestic and 4.6 million international tourists for stays exceeding one day, despite experiencing a more than 10 percent decrease compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the Spanish capital has consistently ranked among the top ten European cities with the highest number of nights spent by tourists in paid accommodation, securing the 8th position that year. Which regions attracted the most international tourists? Spain's international tourism rebounded strongly from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, surpassing 100 million visitors in 2022. Catalonia led as the most visited region, attracting over **** million international tourists. The United Kingdom played a pivotal role as the primary source of international tourists, contributing over ** million travelers, followed by France with around ** million visitors.

According to a March 2025 study, Spain was the preferred destination among European travelers for their next European trip. As of that month, *** percent of respondents intended to visit the country on their next trip within Europe. Italy and France followed in the ranking. What are the travel habits of Europeans? In 2025, air travel was the most popular mode of transport among Europeans planning a trip, with car travel being the second favorite option. Meanwhile, partners and family members were the preferred trip companions for Europeans in 2025, while just above ** percent of travelers intended to go on a solo trip. What are the favorite types of holidays in Europe? In a 2025 survey, most Europeans cited leisure as the main reason for traveling within Europe, with visiting friends or relatives and attending an event being the second and third most common trip purposes, respectively. When focusing on vacationers, sun and beach holidays ranked as Europeans' preferred type of leisure trip in March 2025, followed by cultural and heritage vacations.

According to a 2024 analysis of 14 European cities to visit during the Christmas markets, Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was the most budget-friendly destination. The combined cost of a Christmas market's visit in Bratislava, accommodation, and transport totaled an average of roughly 510 British pounds in 2024. Vilnius in Lithuania recorded the second-cheapest deal for a similar experience that year, at just under 511 British pounds.

The Rijksmuseum is a national art and history museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its collection is based on more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, including the famous “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt, as well as works by notable painters such as Frans Hals and Vermeer. After being hit hard by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance at the Rijksmuseum bounced back in 2023, reaching 2.7 million and equaling the figure reported in 2019. How many tourists visit Amsterdam every year? The Dutch capital plays a fundamental role in driving tourism to the Netherlands, especially when it comes to the inbound tourism market. In 2023, Amsterdam and the surrounding region of North Holland recorded over 10 million international tourist arrivals, ranking among the most visited travel destinations in Europe. This figure accounted for roughly half of all inbound tourist arrivals in the Netherlands that year, representing one of the highest contributions of leading travel destinations to inbound tourism in European countries. Travel and tourism's economic contribution to the Netherlands In 2023, travel and tourism's total contribution to the Netherlands' gross domestic product amounted to nearly 100 billion euros, remaining slightly below the figure reported in 2019. By contrast, travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in the Netherlands recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023, with travel and tourism generating, directly and indirectly, roughly 1.5 million jobs in the country that year.

Spain was the most visited European country among outbound travelers from the UK in 2022, with approximately **** million visits. This figure denotes roughly a ** percent drop compared to 2019, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. France, Italy, and Greece followed in the ranking in 2022.

As of February 2025, Île-de-France, the region that includes Paris, recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in France. As of that month, hotels in that region offered a total of nearly 166,000 rooms. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur followed in the ranking, with over 85,000 and 74,000 hotel rooms, respectively.How many hotels are there in Paris? In 2024, the number of hotels in Paris exceeded 1,600. While three-star hotels accounted for the highest number of establishments that year, four-star hotels recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in Paris, with over 33,000 rooms. How many tourists visit Paris and Île-de-France? The City of Lights, as the French capital is nicknamed, is one of the most visited European destinations by international tourists and is also very popular among domestic travelers. In 2023, the total number of tourist arrivals to Paris and Île-de-France, including inbound and domestic visitors, reached almost 48 million, increasing over the previous year but remaining slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

The number of overseas tourist visits to London, United Kingdom continued to grow in 2023, following a sharp drop in 2021, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the significant annual increase, inbound arrivals in the UK's capital remained below pre-pandemic levels, reaching ***** million in 2023. That year, inbound tourist visits to the UK totaled nearly ** million. London leading the way in Europe London’s contribution to inbound tourism in the United Kingdom is significant, with the UK’s capital accounting for over ** percent of international tourist arrivals in the country in 2023. This was more than other leading European destinations, such as Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin. Those visiting the UK capital also made a significant contribution to the local economy, with expenditure of international visitors in London peaking in 2023, with inbound tourists spending over ** billion British pounds that year. However, this was not reflected in business travel spending in the city, which was nearly half a billion British pounds in 2023 than in 2019. London’s visitor attractions As the largest city in the UK, London is home to some of the country's most iconic visitor attractions. These range from government-sponsored museums, such as the British Museum, to the Tower of London and the ZSL London Zoo. In 2023, the ************** was the most visited tourist attraction in London. Overall, most sites have struggled to match the visitation rates recorded before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however. For instance, attendance at the British Museum – the most visited free attraction in London in 2023 – declined by around ***** percent from 2019.

Our Europe Zip Code Database offers comprehensive postal code data for spatial analysis, including postal and administrative areas for numerous European countries. This dataset contains accurate and up-to-date information on all administrative divisions, cities, and zip codes, making it an invaluable resource for various applications such as address capture and validation, map and visualization, reporting and business intelligence (BI), master data management, logistics and supply chain management, and sales and marketing. Our location data packages are available in various formats, including CSV, optimized for seamless integration with popular systems like Esri ArcGIS, Snowflake, QGIS, and more. Product features include fully and accurately geocoded data, multi-language support with address names in local and foreign languages, comprehensive city definitions, and the option to combine map data with UNLOCODE and IATA codes, time zones, and daylight saving times. Companies choose our location databases for their enterprise-grade service, reduction in integration time and cost by 30%, and weekly updates to ensure the highest quality.

In 2023, the number of international hotel guests in the selected Dutch cities increased significantly compared to the previous year. Overall, Amsterdam recorded by far the highest figure, with just under seven million inbound hotel guests in 2023. Rotterdam ranked second in the list, with 776 thousand inbound hotel guests. Accommodation services in Amsterdam: hotels vs. Airbnb Based on data on the accommodation establishments in Amsterdam broken down by type, there were just over 500 hotels in the popular Dutch destination in 2023. By comparison, the number of Airbnb listings in Amsterdam totaled nearly 9,000 as of March 2024, with entire homes and apartments accounting for most listings. How many inbound tourists visit the Netherlands? In 2023, the Netherlands ranked behind Austria and ahead of Poland in the list of the most visited European countries by inbound visitors, with over 20 million inbound tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, international tourism receipts in the Netherlands amounted to approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars that year, exceeding the figures recorded before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All cities with a population > 1000 or seats of adm div (ca 80.000)Sources and ContributionsSources : GeoNames is aggregating over hundred different data sources. Ambassadors : GeoNames Ambassadors help in many countries. Wiki : A wiki allows to view the data and quickly fix error and add missing places. Donations and Sponsoring : Costs for running GeoNames are covered by donations and sponsoring.Enrichment:add country name

SSH CENTRE (Social Sciences and Humanities for Climate, Energy aNd Transport Research Excellence) is a Horizon Europe project, engaging directly with stakeholders across research, policy, and business (including citizens) to strengthen social innovation, SSH-STEM collaboration, transdisciplinary policy advice, inclusive engagement, and SSH communities across Europe, accelerating the EU’s transition to carbon neutrality.
SSH CENTRE is based in a range of activities related to Open Science, inclusivity and diversity – especially with regards Southern and Eastern Europe and different career stages – including: development of novel SSH-STEM collaborations to facilitate the delivery of the EU Green Deal; SSH knowledge brokerage to support regions in transition; and the effective design of strategies for citizen engagement in EU R&I activities. Outputs include action-led agendas and building stakeholder synergies through regular Policy Insight events.
This is captured in a high-profile virtual SSH CENTRE generating and sharing best practice for SSH policy advice, overcoming fragmentation to accelerate the EU’s journey to a sustainable future.
The documents uploaded here are part of WP2 whereby novel, interdisciplinary teams were provided funding to undertake activities to develop a policy recommendation related to EU Green Deal policy. Each of these policy recommendations, and the activities that inform them, will be written-up as a chapter in an edited book collection. Three books will make up this edited collection - one on climate, one on energy and one on mobility.
As part of writing a chapter for the SSH CENTRE book on ‘Strengthening European mobility policy - Governance recommendations from innovative interdisciplinary collaborations’, we elicit the opinions of citizens in urban logistics policymaking through a series of surveys in different European cities. The files attached to this Zenodo webpage are therefore the dataset contains raw survey data from a study utilizing Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis (MUSA) to evaluate public perceptions of cargo bike last-mile delivery in London, Paris, Rome, Dublin, and Warsaw. The data encompasses over 2,000 responses, detailing participants' satisfaction levels with various aspects of cargo bike delivery services, including CO2 emissions, noise, traffic, safety, and shipping costs. This dataset supports comprehensive analyses of urban logistics policies aimed at sustainable mobility solutions in these specific cities.

A 2025 study analyzed the cheapest cities to visit in Europe by calculating the average price of a series of products, services, and activities. Overall, Riga, in Latvia, ranked as the cheapest European travel destination, with an average daily cost of around *** British pounds. Vilnius, in Lithuania, followed in second place, with an average cost of roughly *** British pounds per day.

Revenue in the Tour Operators industry in Europe is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 13.5% to €69 billion over the five years through 2025. The decline in revenue for much of the period is predominantly due to the damage the COVID-19 outbreak inflicted on the travel sector over the two years through 2022. Customers were unable to travel abroad or domestically. Since restrictions were eased (at different intervals across different countries), holiday numbers have increased both domestically and internationally, which has seen an influx in bookings for European tour operators. Travel in Europe was 6.2% higher in 2024 than its pre-pandemic 2019 level, as recorded by the European Travel Commission, and many Europeans have sought advice and booked tours to travel to their dream destinations. Revenge travel was a trend tour operators became quickly accustomed to, with customers hungry for trips after being locked in for so long during the COVID-19 outbreak. Whilst high inflation in recent years has curbed demand with people’s pockets squeezed, savings during COVID-19 and people’s prioritisation of travel as their luxury purchase has kept bookings high. People are still booking lots of trips in 2025, but are looking for value for money. This is raising bookings in lesser frequented countries, which is encouraging tour operators to offer more packages in new countries to offer budget getaways for price sensitive customers. As a result, tour operator’s revenue is set to grow 0.3% in 2025. The weather continues to dictate seasonal demand, despite an uptick in off-season holidays, and destinations that tour operators target for trips, whilst geopolitical tensions have customers wanting the protection of booking through a travel operator. Revenue is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.6% over the five years through 2030 to €86.2 billion. Tour operators will continue to benefit from the growing travel industry, with people keen to travel for once-in-a-lifetime trips, city breaks, walking tours, culinary hotspots and beach retreats. Tour operators that give their customers more flexibility and the ability to book at the last minute will see significant demand as Europeans opt to travel at the last minute to reduce the risk of cancellations and airport strikes. Operators will face the challenge of adjusting packages, deals and holiday destinations to suit changing preferences. Sustainable travel tours are a growing market as travellers aim to travel more responsibly and lessen the environmental impact of tourism, which will encourage more operators to appeal to the environmentally conscious traveller.

The Croatian capital ranked as the worst city for overtourism or mass tourism in Europe in 2019, registering 36 tourists per inhabitant in that year. Meanwhile, the following three cities in the list recorded 21 tourists per inhabitant. Several European cities associated with overtourism have been forced to implement measures to tackle this problem.

What is “overtourism”?

‘Overtourism’ is a term coined by the travel and tourism industry to refer to problems arising from high numbers of tourists concentrated in a destination. Problems can range from environmental, such as the damage high tourism intensity has on the ecology of a destination, to the societal, in the impact that tourism has on local life and the economy.

Sustainable tourism growth

Europe is the most visited region in the world. Although governments recognize travel and tourism’s economic contribution, destinations have been forced to address dissatisfaction among locals and increased pressure on local resources. The United Nations has already developed a plan to achieve sustainable tourism goals worldwide within the next years, including engaging local populations in development and advancing urban infrastructure. Other local initiatives include attempts to reduce the number of large cruise ships at popular port destinations and encouraging visitors to stay in nearby destinations and to contribute to local businesses.