EU personal trips recover to 80% of pre-pandemic level in 2021, professional trips reach 55%

Eurostat reported (21-Dec-2022) EU residents made 879 million tourism trips with at least one overnight stay in 2021, up 23% year-on-year but below the 1.1 billion made in 2019. Residents from France (200 million trips), Germany (178 million) and Spain (131 million) accounted for over 50% of the trips made. Trips to other EU countries accounted for 12% of all tourism trips in 2021, compared with 11% in 2020 and 20% in 2019. The number of extra EU trips represented 3%, compared with 3% in 2020 and 8% in 2019. Trips for personal purposes recovered to 80% of the pre-pandemic level, while those for professional purposes recovered to 55% of the pre-pandemic level, which Eurostat stated "may reveal a significant and more permanent shift to remote or hybrid business contacts". [more - original PR]