Tourism

Where Lithuania's overnight stays are concentrated

In absolute terms, the capital welcomes the largest number of overnight stays. Measured per resident, the picture flips: a handful of small spa and seaside municipalities sit on a different scale from the rest of the country. This analysis compares volumes, intensity, the supply of rooms and beds, hotel occupancy and the mix of accommodation types.

Volume: the capital first, resorts close behind

Counted in nights spent in accommodation establishments, the highest total in 2024 belongs to Vilnius City Municipality, with 2,277,100 nights. The size of the municipality explains much of that result, and the rest of the table is more surprising. The figure below lists the ten municipalities with the highest totals.

Second place does not go to another large city but to a seaside resort. Palanga City Municipality, home to only 18,551 residents, records 1,259,353 nights, more than Kaunas City Municipality, a city of 303,978 residents, with 683,277.

Druskininkai Municipality, a spa town of 20,079 residents, takes third place with 1,044,046 nights, also ahead of Kaunas City Municipality. Another spa town, Birštonas Municipality, has just 4,101 residents yet counts 519,777 nights, more than the port city of Klaipėda City Municipality.

Nights spent in accommodation establishments: top 10 municipalities

Median across the 51 municipalities: 19,558

Nights per resident: a different order

Dividing nights by the number of residents reshuffles the order completely. The highest ratio, 127.1 nights / resident, belongs to Birštonas Municipality, followed by Palanga City Municipality at 69.7 nights / resident, Druskininkai Municipality at 52.0 nights / resident and Neringa Municipality at 39.5 nights / resident.

Beyond these four, the picture is very different. The fifth-highest ratio is only 4.1 nights / resident, recorded in Molėtai District Municipality, and the median municipality stands at 0.7 nights / resident, which means that a typical municipality sees less than one night a year for each resident.

The capital shows why the ratio matters. Vilnius City Municipality registers 2,277,100 nights, the highest total, yet it is ranked 6 of 51 on the per-resident measure, because its 607,404 residents form a very large base.

Nights in accommodation establishments per resident: top 8 municipalities

Median across the 51 municipalities: 0.7 nights / resident

Rooms and beds follow the same split

The supply of rooms tells the same story. Palanga City Municipality has more rooms in accommodation establishments than either Kaunas City Municipality or Klaipėda City Municipality, although both cities have far more residents. Druskininkai Municipality also has more rooms than Kaunas City Municipality.

Per resident, the contrast is stark. Palanga City Municipality offers 876.4 places / 1,000 residents, Neringa Municipality offers 798.0 places / 1,000 residents and Birštonas Municipality offers 697.2 places / 1,000 residents, whereas the median municipality offers 14.7 places / 1,000 residents.

Beyond the four resorts, the lakeland municipalities of the north-east stand out: Molėtai District Municipality offers 118.6 places / 1,000 residents and Ignalina District Municipality offers 50.7 places / 1,000 residents, against 14.7 places / 1,000 residents in the median municipality. Their absolute volumes remain modest next to the resorts, yet relative to the size of the local population the supply is considerable.

How full are the hotel rooms?

Capacity is only one side of the story; the other is how often rooms are used. In hotels and similar establishments, the occupancy rate of rooms is 66.8% in Vilnius City Municipality and 65.2% in Kaunas City Municipality, against 39.5% in the median municipality. Among regional cities, Šiauliai City Municipality posts 70.8%, a rate above that of the capital.

The resorts, with all their beds, do not come out on top. The occupancy rate is 51.8% in Palanga City Municipality, 56.5% in Druskininkai Municipality and 40.3% in Neringa Municipality, all below the rates in the two large cities. One plausible reason is seasonality: a resort fills its rooms mostly in a short season, while a city draws business travellers and weekend visitors all year round.

The highest rate in the table, 80.4%, is recorded in Pagėgiai Municipality, and the lowest, 2.8%, in Jurbarkas District Municipality. In a municipality with only a handful of hotels, a single establishment can lift or drag down the rate, so the extremes of the table deserve caution.

Hotels, private hosts and the limits of the data

The type of accommodation varies as much as the volume. The highest share of nights spent in hotels and guest houses, 87.1%, is found in Vilnius District Municipality, and the median municipality stands at 56.8%. In Klaipėda City Municipality the share is 77.8%, in Kaunas City Municipality it is 65.2%, and in the spa town of Druskininkai Municipality it is 53.1%. At the other end, Zarasai District Municipality records 0.0%, so guests there stay almost entirely in other types of accommodation.

Private hosts, meaning individual owners who rent out rooms or homes, take the highest share of nights in Alytus District Municipality, at 75.1%, followed by Kazlų Rūda Municipality at 74.8%, against 13.0% in the median municipality.

These figures count nights spent in accommodation establishments, so stays with family or friends and the use of second homes by their owners do not appear in them. Ratios per resident also call for care in the smallest municipalities, where a modest flow of visitors weighs heavily against a small population. The links below lead to the full rankings for each measure and to the county pages where neighbouring municipalities can be compared.

Share of nights in hotels and guest houses: top 8 municipalities

Median across the 36 municipalities: 56.8%

Key takeaways

Go further

Rankings

Nights spent in accommodation establishmentsNights in accommodation establishments per residentNumber of rooms in accommodation establishmentsNumber of accommodation establishments per 1,000 inhabitantsShare of nights in hotels and guest houses

Counties

Klaipėda CountyAlytus CountyUtena County

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