Eurostat: Slovenia saw the biggest rise in domestic tourism in 2020
Luxembourg - In 2020 when tourism was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Slovenia posted the highest rise in the number of nights generated by domestic tourists in the EU, that of 33%. The other two countries that also saw a rise in domestic nights last year were Malta and Cyprus (both up 15%), show figures Eurostat released on Monday.
Tourism was one of the sectors that was affected the most severely, with the number of tourist nights across the EU plummeting by 52% to 1.4 billion in 2020 over 2019.
All EU countries recorded drops, with the sharpest ones - those of more than 70% - reported by Cyprus, Greece and Malta.
While the Netherlands and Denmark reported drops lower than 35% in tourist nights, Slovenia's amounted to 42%.
The number of nights generated by foreign tourists meanwhile dropped by an average 68% in the EU, with the number of nights generated by domestic tourists down 38%.
While Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus generated more domestic tourist nights in 2020, the steepest drops, of more than 40%, were reported by Spain, Greece and Romania.
Nights generated by foreign tourists were down in all EU member states, the most in Cyprus and Romania (more than -80%), with Slovenia's drop reaching 71%.