Europe Captured a Third of Global Leisure Spending

Leisure travel spending in Europe reached about $2 trillion in 2025, equivalent to roughly one-third of the global $6.15 trillion total. The World Travel & Tourism Council expects European leisure spending to grow another 3.7% in 2026, faster than the projected global rate of 3.1%. Italy, Spain and Türkiye are forecast to post some of the strongest growth among major European destinations, while accommodation statistics already show further expansion in European Union tourism volumes this year.

Europe captures about one-third of global leisure spending

Hospitality Net reported on Aug. 17, 2026, citing new World Travel & Tourism Council research, that global leisure travel spending reached $6.15 trillion in 2025, increasing 3.5% year over year. Leisure accounted for 80.5% of travel expenditure within the leisure-versus-business spending split used by the research. Europe captured about $2 trillion, or approximately 32.5% of the global total.

The $2 trillion figure does not represent hotel revenue or Travel & Tourism’s contribution to gross domestic product. The Economic Impact Research framework separately measures visitor spending, GDP contribution, employment and domestic and international tourism. The latest European report was released on Aug. 6, 2026 and includes historical data through 2025 and forecasts for 2026.

Leisure spending increased 3.6% in France, 2.6% in Spain and 2.2% in Italy in 2025. For 2026, Europe is forecast to grow 3.7%, compared with 3.1% globally. Italy is projected to expand 4.7%, Spain 4.3%, Türkiye 4.1% and France 2.6%.

Europe receives more than half of international tourists

The spending figures are supported by Europe’s enormous visitor volumes. UN Tourism estimated 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals involving an overnight stay worldwide in 2025, almost 60 million more than in 2024.

Europe received 793 million international tourists, representing about 52% of the global total. Arrivals increased 4% from 2024 and stood 6% above 2019.

Western Europe grew 5%, Southern Mediterranean Europe 3%, and Central and Eastern Europe 6%, although the latter remained 9% below 2019 levels.

Preliminary international tourism receipts worldwide reached approximately $1.9 trillion in 2025, while total tourism export revenues including passenger transport were estimated at about $2.2 trillion.

Those figures should not be confused with the $6.15 trillion leisure-spending estimate, which measures a broader travel market that includes domestic activity.

Spain and Italy generated almost one billion nights

The European Union, which is narrower than Europe as a geographic tourism market, recorded nearly 3.1 billion nights in tourist accommodation establishments in 2025, an increase of 2.2%, or 66.4 million nights.

Spain led with 513.6 million nights, followed by Italy with 476.9 million, France with 471.7 million and Germany with 442.1 million.

Those four countries accounted for 61.7% of the EU total. Spain and Italy alone generated approximately 990.5 million nights.

International guests produced most of the additional demand, with foreign guest nights rising 3.4%, or almost 49.7 million, while domestic nights increased 1.1%, adding 16.7 million.

July and August account for almost one-third of the EU market

European tourism remains highly seasonal. In 2025, 31.1% of all nights in EU tourist accommodation occurred during July and August.

The same two months were the busiest in every EU country. August recorded 3.6 times as many nights as January.

Seasonality varied sharply. Croatia generated 54.5% of its annual accommodation nights in July and August, Bulgaria 43.4% and Greece 41.6%. Malta recorded 21.9%, Germany 24% and Finland 24.1%.

The figures help explain the strength of Southern and Mediterranean European destinations during summer. France is also one of Europe’s largest summer tourism markets, although it should not be treated geographically as entirely part of Southern Europe.

Tourism continued to grow in early 2026

Accommodation data for the beginning of 2026 point to continued expansion.

EU tourist accommodation establishments recorded 471.1 million nights during the first quarter, 3.4% more than a year earlier.

January grew 3.2%, February 3.4% and March 3.7%. International guest nights increased 5.5%, considerably faster than the 1.7% growth in domestic nights.

Foreign guests represented 46.6% of all EU accommodation nights. Their share reached 93.3% in Malta, 85.6% in Cyprus and 85.1% in Luxembourg.

The increase in physical tourism volumes is important because it shows that projected spending growth is not simply a result of higher travel prices.

Short-term rentals are growing much faster

Platform-based short-term accommodation continues to expand particularly rapidly.

Guests spent 144.3 million nights in EU short-stay accommodation booked through Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia during the first quarter of 2026, 9.7% more than a year earlier.

The figures are based on information provided directly to Eurostat by the platforms. Tripadvisor stopped contributing to this dataset after the fourth quarter of 2024, leaving three participating platforms from 2025 onward.

The growth rate was almost three times the increase recorded for total EU tourist accommodation nights in the first quarter, although the two datasets have different coverage and should not be treated as directly interchangeable.

In heavily visited Southern European destinations, growing platform accommodation increases tourism capacity but can also intensify competition between visitors and residents for housing.

Foreign tourists spent €134.7 billion in Spain

Spain illustrates how tourism-spending figures vary according to methodology.

According to provisional annual figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute, international tourists spent €134.712 billion in Spain during 2025, 6.8% more than a year earlier.

Visitors from the United Kingdom spent €23.65 billion, Germany €15.831 billion and France €11.613 billion. Catalonia received €24.807 billion in foreign tourist expenditure, the Canary Islands €24.431 billion and the Balearic Islands €21.058 billion.

The 6.8% increase cannot be directly compared with the 2.6% growth in Spanish leisure spending in the international model. Spain’s national statistics measure expenditure by non-resident visitors in the country, while the international model covers a different universe of spending and also incorporates domestic travel.

Foreign demand drove Italy’s summer growth

Italy’s 2025 summer season, covering June through September, ended with overnight stays up 4% and arrivals broadly stable at plus 0.2%.

Growth came entirely from international demand. Foreign arrivals increased 4.3% and foreign overnight stays rose 8.3%, while domestic arrivals fell 4.8% and domestic nights declined 0.8%.

International guests represented 54.7% of summer overnight stays, up from 52.5% in 2024.

Looking only at the third quarter from July through September, foreign guest nights increased 5% and total overnight stays rose 2.5%. August remained the busiest month, with 85.2 million nights.

The rising international share gives Italy additional opportunities to increase tourism expenditure, while also making parts of the market more exposed to exchange rates, aviation capacity and economic conditions in key source countries.

Higher spending does not mean identical growth in visitor numbers

A projected 3.7% increase in European leisure spending in 2026 does not imply a 3.7% rise in arrivals, hotel occupancy or passenger volumes.

Spending can rise because hotels, flights, restaurants and attractions become more expensive even if visitor numbers remain unchanged.

It can also be affected by longer or shorter stays and by shifts between premium and lower-cost travel.

The opposite is possible as well: tourist volumes may grow faster than spending if travelers take shorter trips or choose cheaper accommodation.

Spending, arrivals, overnight stays and average length of stay therefore need to be evaluated together.

Mediterranean markets remain strongest in summer

Spain and Italy combine beach tourism with city breaks, cultural travel, gastronomy, cruises and extensive international aviation networks.

Türkiye competes both in large-scale resort tourism and major urban tourism through Istanbul and its Mediterranean and Aegean destinations.

France remains one of Europe’s largest tourism economies through Paris, the Mediterranean coast, Atlantic destinations, the Alps and its substantial domestic market.

This diversity allows Europe’s major destinations to draw demand simultaneously from European source markets, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

Infrastructure is becoming the key constraint

Strong tourism spending generates additional revenue for hotels, restaurants, transport companies and commercial property owners, but very high visitor volumes also expose capacity limits.

Nearly 3.1 billion annual accommodation nights in the EU, with 31.1% concentrated in July and August, place heavy requirements on airports, rail systems, local transport, water supply, waste management and historic urban areas.

Rapid short-term rental growth can add another form of pressure by increasing competition for residential housing in major destinations.

As International Investment experts report, Europe’s roughly $2 trillion in leisure spending confirms the region’s exceptional strength in converting travel demand into expenditure, but the headline should not be interpreted as evidence of equally rapid growth in visitor numbers or hotel investment returns. The main constraint for mature destinations is increasingly the ability of infrastructure and housing markets to absorb additional peak-season demand. The 2026 outlook also remains a forecast and is sensitive to inflation, transport costs, exchange rates, geopolitical risks and consumer confidence.