Contents
- Coastal tourism visits statistics: coastal accommodation nights across Europe
- Coastal tourism visits statistics: seaside regions with the most overnight stays
- Coastal tourism visits statistics: seasonal peaks in coastal destinations
- Coastal tourism visits statistics: domestic and international overnight patterns
- Coastal tourism visits statistics: short-stay platform demand in coastal regions
- Coastal tourism visits: South Coast visitor totals in New South Wales
- Sources
Coastal tourism visits statistics: coastal accommodation nights across Europe
Coastal tourism statistics often describe overnight stays rather than every person who visits a beach or seaside town. In 2023, EU coastal accommodation establishments recorded 1.4 billion nights, equal to 48% of all tourism accommodation nights in the EU. The measure is nights spent at accommodation establishments in coastal areas, not a count of distinct travelers or day trips. Source: Eurostat, “EU sees bigger share of tourists from outside Europe”
The national shares ranged widely. In Cyprus, 97% of tourism accommodation nights were at coastal establishments in 2023; Greece recorded 96%. At the lower end among the reported countries, Belgium and Romania each recorded 18% of tourist accommodation nights in coastal areas, while Germany and Slovenia each recorded 19%.
| Country | Coastal share of accommodation nights, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cyprus | 97% |
| Greece | 96% |
| Germany | 19% |
| Slovenia | 19% |
| Belgium | 18% |
| Romania | 18% |
These percentages describe the coastal share within each country’s accommodation-night total. They do not rank countries by total nights, and the same share can reflect different national volumes. Eurostat defines coastal accommodation using municipalities that border the sea or have at least half their territory within 10 km of the sea. Collection thresholds can also exclude smaller establishments in some countries. Source: Eurostat, “EU sees bigger share of tourists from outside Europe”
The figures therefore provide a useful measure of how strongly overnight tourism is concentrated along the coast, while leaving some parts of visitor activity outside the count. Same-day visitors are not represented by accommodation nights. Neither are travelers staying in non-rented accommodation such as second homes or with friends or relatives. Source: Eurostat, “EU sees bigger share of tourists from outside Europe”
Coastal tourism visits statistics: seaside regions with the most overnight stays
The largest regional totals give another view of coastal tourism volume. In 2024, Spain’s Canarias recorded 99.5 million nights spent in tourist accommodation. Cataluña, also in Spain, recorded 88.7 million, and Croatia’s Jadranska Hrvatska recorded 88.4 million. These are regional accommodation-night totals, not visitor counts; one visitor staying multiple nights contributes multiple nights. Source: Eurostat, “Regions in Europe – 2026 edition”
| Region | Tourist accommodation nights, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Canarias, Spain | 99.5 million |
| Cataluña, Spain | 88.7 million |
| Jadranska Hrvatska, Croatia | 88.4 million |
The three figures are close enough to show that the leading destinations each recorded tens of millions of overnight stays, but they do not explain why visitors chose them or how nights were distributed across different coastal locations within each region. They also should not be read as a ranking of all forms of visitation: the measure covers tourist accommodation nights. Visitors who came and left the same day, or who stayed in non-rented accommodation, fall outside the accommodation-night count. Source: Eurostat, “Regions in Europe – 2026 edition”; Eurostat, “EU sees bigger share of tourists from outside Europe”
Coastal tourism visits statistics: seasonal peaks in coastal destinations
Annual totals can conceal how concentrated overnight demand is within a year. Eurostat’s 2024 regional seasonality table identifies the 2 highest months for each region and reports their combined share of annual tourist accommodation nights. For the listed coastal regions below, those peak months were July and August, with the order varying by region. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”
| Region | 2 highest months | Share of annual nights |
|---|---|---|
| Calabria | August, July | 58.8% |
| Jadranska Hrvatska | August, July | 57.7% |
| Languedoc-Roussillon | August, July | 51.8% |
| Aquitaine | August, July | 50.4% |
| Corse | August, July | 50.0% |
| Småland med öarna | July, August | 49.9% |
| Voreio Aigaio | August, July | 48.9% |
| Abruzzo | August, July | 48.1% |
| Pays de la Loire | August, July | 47.6% |
| Puglia | August, July | 47.5% |
| Poitou-Charentes | August, July | 47.3% |
| Marche | August, July | 47.0% |
The reported concentration is highest in Calabria, where August and July together accounted for 58.8% of annual nights. Jadranska Hrvatska followed at 57.7%. In Languedoc-Roussillon, the same 2 months represented 51.8% of annual nights, and in Aquitaine they represented 50.4%. Corse was recorded at 50.0%; Småland med öarna, where the listed order is July then August, was at 49.9%.
The remaining reported shares were 48.9% in Voreio Aigaio, 48.1% in Abruzzo, 47.6% in Pays de la Loire, 47.5% in Puglia, 47.3% in Poitou-Charentes and 47.0% in Marche. These values show the share concentrated in each region’s 2 highest months; they do not state the number of nights in those months or give a monthly distribution for the rest of the year. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”
Coastal tourism visits statistics: domestic and international overnight patterns
The same Eurostat table reports the domestic-tourist share of accommodation nights for these regions. The domestic share is a percentage of nights, not a percentage of visitors. In 2024, domestic tourists accounted for 8.0% of Jadranska Hrvatska’s nights and 25.0% of Voreio Aigaio’s. In contrast, the reported domestic shares were 86.6% in Pays de la Loire and 85.2% in Poitou-Charentes. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”
| Region | Domestic share of tourist accommodation nights, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Jadranska Hrvatska | 8.0% |
| Voreio Aigaio | 25.0% |
| Puglia | 66.3% |
| Corse | 66.3% |
| Aquitaine | 75.4% |
| Languedoc-Roussillon | 76.9% |
| Småland med öarna | 79.0% |
| Marche | 81.8% |
| Abruzzo | 84.9% |
| Poitou-Charentes | 85.2% |
| Pays de la Loire | 86.6% |
Among the listed regions, domestic tourists represented 66.3% of nights in both Puglia and Corse. Their share was 75.4% in Aquitaine, 76.9% in Languedoc-Roussillon, 79.0% in Småland med öarna, 81.8% in Marche and 84.9% in Abruzzo. These values distinguish domestic from international overnight patterns within each region, but they do not measure the number of people in either group. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”
The comparison also makes clear that regions can have different visitor mixes while both experience pronounced July and August peaks. For example, Jadranska Hrvatska’s 2 highest months represented 57.7% of annual nights, while domestic tourists accounted for 8.0% of its nights. Languedoc-Roussillon’s 2 highest months represented 51.8%, and its domestic share was 76.9%. These are separate measures in the same annual table: one describes when nights occurred, and the other describes the domestic share. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics – seasonality at regional level”
Coastal tourism visits statistics: short-stay platform demand in coastal regions
Online platform data capture a particular part of short-stay accommodation demand. In the third quarter of 2025, Jadranska Hrvatska recorded 27.7 million nights in short-term rental accommodation booked via online platforms. Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur recorded 16.9 million platform-booked short-term rental nights in the same quarter. These are platform-booked nights, not all accommodation nights or total visits in either region. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism nights booked via platforms hit nearly 1 billion”
Across the EU, guests spent 951.6 million nights in short-stay accommodation booked online during 2025. The annual total increased 11.4% compared with 2024. That comparison concerns online-booked short-stay accommodation nights at EU level; it does not establish the change in every coastal region or in all types of tourism accommodation. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism nights booked via platforms hit nearly 1 billion”
| Measure | Period | Nights |
|---|---|---|
| Jadranska Hrvatska platform-booked short-term rentals | 2025 Q3 | 27.7 million |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur platform-booked short-term rentals | 2025 Q3 | 16.9 million |
| EU online-booked short-stay accommodation | 2025 | 951.6 million |
The regional and EU figures use the same broad platform-booking topic but cover different geographies and periods: the regional entries are for the third quarter, while the EU figure covers the full calendar year. The annual EU increase of 11.4% is specifically a comparison with 2024. Keeping these scopes distinct avoids treating the regional quarter totals as comparable with the annual EU total. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism nights booked via platforms hit nearly 1 billion”
Coastal tourism visits: South Coast visitor totals in New South Wales
Destination NSW reports a broader visitor series for its South Coast tourism region. For the year ending June 2026, the region recorded 10.5 million visitors, 17.7 million visitor nights and $4.6 billion in expenditure. The reporting period is the year ending June 2026, rather than the calendar year. Source: Destination NSW, “South Coast”
| South Coast measure | Year ending June 2026 |
|---|---|
| Visitors | 10.5 million |
| Visitor nights | 17.7 million |
| Expenditure | $4.6 billion |
These indicators describe different dimensions of visitation: a visitor total, overnight stays and expenditure. The visitor figure is the closest of this set to a count of visits, while visitor nights records overnight activity. Together, they show why coastal tourism reporting benefits from naming the measure and period precisely. The South Coast series is specific to the Destination NSW tourism region and should not be conflated with Eurostat’s EU coastal accommodation statistics or platform-booked short-stay nights. Source: Destination NSW, “South Coast”