City Travel Report by CityDNA 2025-2026
City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), the leading network of city tourism organizations in Europe, just launched the 22nd edition of the “City Travel Report”. It is the main source of information for city tourism statistics today. Modul University Vienna is the scientific partner in producing and further developing the report, which includes the latest insights about the performance of European cities.
The City Travel Report illustrates the structure and main trends in city tourism for 141 European cities between 2021 and 2025. Detailed analyses feature major developments concerning bed supply, occupancy, CO2 emissions, and tourism densities of European cities. In addition, the report includes detailed information about the performance of the top nine European source markets. The results of the City Travel Report show that European city tourism , despite challenges such as geopolitical uncertainties, macroeconomic fluctuations and the intensifying impacts of climate change, continues to develop at a mature, moderate pace. The following infographic highlights the main results for 2025:
Based on the positive development of total bednights in the cities included in the City Travel Report, the average growth rate of all cities was 4.1% in 2025 (previous year: 5.8%), which indicates a phase of mature, moderate growth. This development is due to growth in total bednights in 107 out of 141 analyzed cities. The average growth rate in bed capacity for the cities was 2.9% in 2025. Regarding bed occupancy, the benchmark average in 2025 was 47.5%, in comparison to 48.8% in 2024.
The average annual growth rate in international bednights in 2025 was 5.1% in the CityDNA Report cities and 14.3% in the EU 27 nations and United Kingdom. In total bednight volumes, cities grew more strongly than other regions (4.4% vs. 1.4%). The top performing cities for the year 2025, in terms of total bednights, are London, Paris and Istanbul.
Among the top 20 cities, Istanbul (+26.8%), Florence (+11.1%) and Paris (+9.8%) recorded the most notable increases in 2025. Florence was also among the top three cities with the highest growth rates in 2024. Berlin (-3.8%), Frankfurt (-0.7%) and Barcelona (-0.6%) recorded decreases. Frankfurt’s ranking shifted slightly from 17th in 2024 to 19th in 2025. Such developments are not necessarily positive or negative; they reflect differing objectives of city destinations.
Looking at the nine central source markets of Europe in 2025, demand grew in all markets. With the exception of Japan (12.3%), growth in all markets was in the single-digit percentage range, and the long-haul markets grew faster than the European markets. The United States and Germany were again the two strongest markets for European cities. Russia, with growth of 7.6%, ranks last among the top nine. The ranking of the markets remained unchanged compared with 2024.
Annual tourism density in the cities included in the report was 12.23 bednights per citizen in 2025. Summer was the busiest season, with an average of 5.03 bednights per citizen, followed by fall (average density = 3.23).
The City Travel Report also includes estimates of transport-related CO2 emissions from urban tourism. Upon inspection of CO2 emissions caused by tourists traveling to and from the cities, average nominal value for total CO2 in 2025 was at 915,710 tons.
Regarding CO2 emissions per tourist, the average percentage change in 2024-2025 was 0.2%. 26 out of 72 cities recorded negative rates, among which Jurmala (-49.2%), Biel/Bienne (-26.4%) and Mechelen (-21.8%) stand out.
The City Travel Report can be purchased in two different versions. The light package including the report costs € 490. The professional package including the report and full data file costs € 990. The City Travel Report (in English) can be purchased following this link. For all CityDNA members it is available free of charge.
For further information, please contact the CityDNA Head Office directly or visit their website to order the report:
E-Mail: headoffice@citydna.eu
Find out more about City Destinations Alliance: citydestinationsalliance.eu
Order the report: citydestinationsalliance.eu/city-travel-report-by-citydna