Staycations not popular in Luxembourg

(JB) While cash-strapped European tourists are increasingly opting for low-cost staycations, Luxembourg residents will settle for nothing less than a holiday abroad.

According to a Eurostat study, not one single Luxembourg resident surveyed said they had made a touristic visit or staycation in their own country in 2010.

The country's trend of spending holidays abroad was as popular for those taking mini-breaks as for longer holidays, though longer holidays appeared to be more common accounting for 62% of all trips.

The phenomenon sets Luxembourg apart from its neighbours in terms of the distance they are prepared to travel for their holidays.

In Belgium, trips abroad accounted for 76% of tourism, meanwhile residents in Slovenia were the third most likely to take a trip abroad (56%).

The country in which residents were most likely to remain within their own borders for a holiday was Romania with just 6.1% of trips made outside of the country. This was followed by Spain (7.5%) and Greece (8.5%).

The survey of European Union countries was published to coincide with the European Tourism Day on September 27.

It showed that some 1 billion tourist visits had been made by residents in the EU27 block group during 2010, of which half were short, domestic trips in the individual's country of residence.