Europe tourist arrivals surpassed 2019 numbers in 2024

With 747 million international arrivals in 2024, Europe exceeded pre-pandemic numbers by 1%. All the sub-regions recorded growth albeit Central and Eastern Europe suffered from the lingering effects of geopolitical conflicts in the region. However, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia were among the top fastest growing countries with arrivals progressing respectively by 15% and 29% compared to 2019.

Southern/Mediterranean Europe continued to lead growth with a jump of 7.3% in arrivals (325 million) between 2023 and 2024, according to UN Tourism data. Albania, Official Host Country of ITB Berlin 2025, was Europe’s top performer with arrivals up 80% compared to 2019. Andorra, Malta, Portugal and Turkey also recorded double-digit growth in arrivals compared to pre-pandemic years.

Northern and Western Europe surpassed their pre-pandemic performances as well, respectively by 5.9% and 5.3%. Among the best performing countries of these sub-regions, Denmark arrivals were up 17% and Luxembourg up by 24% compared to 2019.

Photo: © Sara Darcaj – Unsplash