Europe’s City Tourism Hits a New Gear: CityDNA’s 2025–2026 City Travel Report Covers 141 Cities, Reveals 4.1% Growth, and Highlights a Strategic Shift Toward Value Over Volume
European city tourism kept climbing in 2025, but the headline figure only tells part of the story. The 22nd edition of the City Travel Report by CityDNA, covering a record 141 European cities, records average city-level total-bednight growth of 4.1% – down from 5.8% in 2024, yet still positive in 107 of the 141 destinations.
The report’s central message: Europe’s city destinations are moving from a volume race to a value-and-resilience race. Success is increasingly measured by what visitor economies deliver for residents, businesses, the environment and the cities themselves.
“Europe’s city destinations are entering a more mature phase of growth,” said Barbara Jamison-Woods, President of City Destinations Alliance. “The question is no longer simply how many visitors a city attracts, but what value the visitor economy creates for communities, businesses, visitors and the environment. The City Travel Report gives destination leaders the evidence they need to make those choices with greater confidence.”
Headline numbers at a glance
| FACT | FIGURE |
| Cities in the report | 141 (record) |
| Average city-level total-bednight growth | +4.1% (vs. +5.8% in 2024) |
| Cities that grew | 107 of 141 |
| Largest city destination | London 82.35 million bednights |
| Fastest-growing top-20 city | Istanbul +26.8% |
| Biggest long-haul rebound | Japan +12.3% |
| Average bed occupancy | 47.5% (down from 48.8%) |
| Bed capacity growth | +2.9% |
The city leaderboard: London, Paris, Istanbul and a striking surge in the east
London remains Europe’s largest city destination by a wide margin, logging 82.35 million bednights in 2025. Paris stays second with 55.89 million, while Istanbul jumps to third with 40.11 million.
The real drama is in the growth rates. Among the top 20 destinations, Istanbul soared +26.8%, Florence rose +11.1% and Paris gained +9.8%.
Source markets: every single one grew, but long-haul is roaring back
All nine principal source markets generated more bednights in 2025. The United States remains the largest, with 49.4 million bednights (+6.1%), followed by Germany (32.0 million, +3.9%) and the United Kingdom (29.0 million, +0.6%).
The standout trend is long-haul recovery. Japan jumped +12.3%, China rose +9.8% and the United States grew +6.1% – all outpacing the near-European markets.
Why slower growth is not bad news
The report deliberately warns against reading the slower headline growth as weakness. International bednights in CityDNA cities rose +5.1%, well below the +14.3% recorded across the EU27 and UK, but CityDNA cities still outpaced national tourism in aggregate total bednight growth (+4.4% vs. +1.4% elsewhere).
The explanation: capacity limits, resident-wellbeing priorities and deliberate policy choices are curbing unchecked volume growth in many destinations.
“More moderate average growth should not be interpreted as weakness,” said Prof. Karl Wöber, President of Modul University Vienna and Scientific Partner of the report. “Destination performance is increasingly shaped by local capacity, market composition and strategic priorities. Comparable data from 141 cities enables destinations to understand their results in context and set realistic, evidence-based objectives.”
Other key findings
- Capacity up, occupancy down: Bed capacity rose +2.9%, but average occupancy slipped from 48.8% to 5% – a sign that supply is growing faster than immediate demand in some cities.
- Emissions edge up, but many cities cut them: Transport-related CO₂ emissions per tourist rose only +0.2%, while 26 of 72 analysed cities actually reduced emissions.
- Tourism intensity varies sharply: The report cities averaged 92 bednights per resident, underlining why one-size-fits-all targets do not work.
- New 2026 trends chapter: This year’s report adds a European City Travel Trends 2026 chapter, contributed by GetYourGuide, focusing on traveller behaviour, experience demand and opportunities to connect tourism with local culture.
About the City Travel Report by CityDNA 2025-2026
Developed by City Destinations Alliance in partnership with Modul University Vienna, the City Travel Report by CityDNA turns extensive tourism statistics into comparable intelligence for destination management organisations, tourism authorities, researchers and industry professionals.
The 2025-2026 edition covers total and international bednights, nine source markets, destination rankings, bed capacity and occupancy, tourism intensity and seasonality, transport-related CO₂ emissions, and city performance compared with national trends.
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Order your copy of the City Travel Report by CityDNA 2025-2026 Light Package
Including comprehensive city tourism benchmarks for 141 destinations in Europe; factors that influenced tourism in 2025; visualisation of City Tourism Trends 2025 for total bednights, international bednights and bednights in 9 markets based on forecasts of changes in market volumes, CO2 emissions, European City Travel Trends 2026 and much more!
Order your copy of the City Travel Report by CityDNA 2025-2026 Professional Package
The Professional Package includes the elements stated in the City Travel Report by CityDNA Light Package + the complete dataset (Excel and Powerpoint files as a background to your analysis and presentations).
CityDNA members, get a FREE copy of the full Report and database on CityDNA Intranet!
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About City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA)
We are a knowledge sharing network for cities and urban regions collaborating to maximise the potential of the visitor economy. Our vision is for all cities in Europe to flourish as great places to live, work, meet and explore. As a community of professionals, our promise to each other is to always be curious and forward thinking, share our inspiration and continued learnings.
For more information and pictures, please contact:
Bénédicte Lack, press@citydna.eu, +33 380 56 02 03
citydestinationsalliance.eu