Türkiye ranks among top non-EU destinations for EU travelers

Eurostat announced on Sunday that Türkiye ranked among the top three destinations for European Union residents traveling outside the bloc in 2024, placing alongside the United Kingdom and Switzerland as the most popular non-EU choices.

Travel volume and expenditure

EU residents made approximately 1.2 billion tourism trips throughout 2024, spending nearly 6 billion nights away from home with total expenditure reaching €618 billion ($713 billion), according to the statistical office. Almost three-quarters of these foreign trips remained within the European Union, while the remainder ventured to destinations outside the bloc.

Destination preferences

The United Kingdom, Türkiye and Switzerland attracted the highest number of trips among non-EU destinations last year, Eurostat noted. Destinations outside the European continent accounted for merely 13.1% of all foreign trips by EU residents, with Africa representing 4.5%, Asia 4.2% and the Americas 4.1%.

Italy remained the most popular foreign destination overall for EU residents, capturing 10.7% of all foreign trips, followed closely by Spain at 10.4%. Eurostat emphasized that proximity continued to influence destination choices significantly, with neighboring or nearby countries generally preferred for tourism travel.