01 November 2025, 12:00

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Cypriot tourists are European champions in spending on food

Cypriot tourists are European champions in spending on food

Cypriots traveling abroad are more willing than other Europeans to spend money on cafes and restaurants. For a four-day trip, the average Cypriot will spend an average of 320 euros in catering establishments. These and other data are provided by Eurostat.

EU citizens in general are not very fond of traveling abroad - most prefer to stay in their home country. 71% of respondents give preference to domestic tourism, 21% to other EU countries, and only 8% to third countries. The study looked at trips lasting 4 days or more.

Spaniards are more loyal to their homeland than others: only 8% of their trips are directed outside the country. In second place are the French and Romanians, 9% of whom travel abroad, but still within the EU. At the other end of the scale, countries of relatively small size are Luxembourg (78%), Belgium (62%) and Malta (48%).

Luxembourgers also top the list of most generous travelers, spending an average of €1,758 on an average trip abroad of at least four nights. They are followed by the Swedes (1,744 euros), Austrians (1,573 euros), Finns (1,501 euros) and the French (1,403 euros). At the other end of the scale are the most frugal: Lithuanians (569 euros), Hungarians (580 euros) and Slovenians (667 euros).

 

Food and drink expenses

Cypriots are at the forefront when it comes to food and drink. During trips abroad lasting at least four days, they spend an average of 320 euros on restaurants and cafes. In second place are Estonians (305 euros), then Finns (274 euros). Lithuanians turned out to be the most economical here (73 euros), followed by Slovenians (98 euros) and Hungarians (106 euros).

Tourists from the Balkans tend to allocate a significant portion of their budget to food and drink - often a quarter or more. Bulgarians lead the way (34%), followed by Romanians (29.5%), Croats (29%) and Greeks (27.5%). Cypriots are slightly behind the Balkan residents, spending 25% of their entire trip budget on food.

Local cuisine is not considered a priority for the French, who allocate just 9% of their tourism budget to food - the lowest of all countries in the study. The same goes for the Swedes; they spend only 13% of their tourism budget on food and drinks.

 

Who prioritizes comfort?

Living expenses are a completely different story. Belgians, Germans and Austrians strive to avoid unpleasant surprises by allocating 40% or more on housing. These are the highest figures in the EU. Latvians also put comfort first, ranking fourth in terms of living expenses, although they are only 22nd in total travel expenses. At the same time, residents of Central European countries (Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary) spend the least on living expenses. At the bottom of the list are the Danes, who allocate just under a third (32.6%) of their tourism budget to hotels and inns.

The text was prepared based on materials from SigmaLive. 

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