Cyprus ranked second in the European Union for the share of foreign visitor overnights in the first quarter of 2026, recording 85.6%, according to data published Tuesday by Eurostat.
Only Malta ranked higher, at 93.3%. Luxembourg came third at 85.1%. The lowest shares were recorded in Germany at 19.9%, Poland at 20.2%, and Romania at 22.4%. Across the EU as a whole, foreign visitors accounted for around 46.6% of all overnights in the first quarter of 2026.
Cyprus recorded 368,639 overnights in January 2026, 476,000 in February, and 503,579 in March, covering hotels, holiday accommodation, and other short-stay facilities. Year-on-year, overnights rose 14.43% in January and 32.17% in February compared with the same months in 2025, before falling 36.81% in March.
EU-wide, total overnights in tourist accommodation reached 471.1 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 3.4% on the same period in 2025. January accounted for 143.5 million overnights, up 3.2%; February 154.4 million, up 3.4%; and March 173.2 million, up 3.7%.
Among EU member states, Ireland recorded the largest increase in total overnights in the first quarter at 35.3%, followed by Malta at 11.1% and Denmark at 9.3%. Nine member states recorded declines, led by Lithuania at 12.9%, Romania at 6.7%, and Luxembourg at 3.8%.
Foreign visitor overnights across the EU rose 5.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, while domestic overnights grew 1.7%. Ireland also led on foreign overnights growth at 42.3%, followed by Lithuania at 24.1% and Slovakia at 15.4%. Declines in foreign overnights were recorded in Latvia at 7.5%, Bulgaria at 4.3%, and Belgium at 4%.
Eurostat noted the data is drawn from monthly tourism accommodation statistics.
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