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Trending Insights: EU’s Tourist Overnight Stays Q1 2025

EU tourism nights in the first quarter of 2025

The first quarter of 2025 saw a subtle dip in EU tourist overnight stays, totaling 452.4 million, a slight decrease of 0.2% from the same period in 2024. January ushered in a positive start with 139.0 million nights, a 3.5% increase year-on-year. However, February and March saw declines, hitting 147.7 million and 167.7 million nights respectively.

According to Eurostat data, these variations are linked to calendar shifts, particularly the timing of school holidays and Easter celebrations.

Foreign visitors formed a significant segment in overnight stays, constituting around 45.6%. Cyprus impressively hosted 85.7% foreign visitors, trailing only behind Malta.

Notably, foreign overnight stays slightly rose by 1.1%, while domestic stays fell by 1.3%. Countries like Latvia and Malta recorded the steepest increases in foreign guests, while Ireland and Croatia experienced considerable downturns.

A New Twitter-Inspired Social Network Is Taking Shape

A new social network called Twitter.now is entering the market, with a founding team that includes former Twitter trademark counsel Stephen Coates. The service is being developed by startup Operation Bluebird.

As Ars Technica reported, X sued the company last year and asked a Delaware judge to block the launch. Operation Bluebird argued in a petition that X had abandoned trademarks including “Twitter” and “Tweet.”

Coates has said the project is not an attempt to recreate the original Twitter. In a LinkedIn post, he described the platform as a new public space focused on trust, transparency and user choice.

AI System To Rate Posts

Twitter.now is currently being tested, with early access priced at $20. Its main feature is VERA, an AI system designed to evaluate posts, verify claims and provide sources and context.

Posts receive a trust score, with users eventually able to set a minimum score to filter their feeds. The company says this approach will give people more control over what they see instead of leaving those decisions entirely to an algorithm.

Moderation Remains A Challenge

Scaling moderation will be one of the platform’s biggest tests. Social networks have repeatedly struggled with content moderation as their communities grow, and newer platforms such as Bluesky have faced similar criticism.

Operation Bluebird says VERA will form the basis of its moderation and verification system. A second version is already planned, with expanded tools that would let users set a specific trust threshold for the posts appearing in their feeds.

For now, Twitter.now remains in an early testing phase, combining the familiarity of the Twitter name with an AI-driven approach to evaluating online information.

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