Arrivals at Romania's tourist accommodation establishments advance 3.6pct in 2019, y-o-y

Arrivals at Romania's tourist accommodation establishments January 1 - December 31, 2019 totalled 13.268 million people, up 3.6% from the same period of 2018, according to data with the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The arrivals of foreign tourists at tourist accommodation establishments decreased last year by 4.1% year-over-year, to 2.672 million, while overnights declined 0.7%, to 5.267 million. Out of the total number of arrivals January 1 - December 31, 2019, those of Romanian tourists made up 79.9%, while foreign tourists contributed 20.1%. Among the arrivals of foreign tourists at Romania's tourist accommodation establishments, the highest share was held by those from Europe (74.2% of the total foreign tourists), and of these 84.2% were from other countries belonging to the European Union. Overnight stays reported by the same establishments for the same period amounted to 29.87 million, an increase by 5.0% from January 1 - December 31, 2018. Last year, out of the total number of overnights, the overnights of Romanian tourists at Romania's tourist accommodation establishments made up 82.4%, while the overnights of foreign tourists made up 17.6%. Regarding the overnight stays of foreign tourists, the highest share was held by those from Europe (72.1% of the total foreign tourists), and of these 83.8% were from other countries belonging to the European Union. The average length of stay during the said period was 2.3 days for Romanian tourists and 2.0 days for foreign tourists. Net occupancy rate of bed-places and bedrooms in hotels and similar accommodations during the reference period was 34.2% overall, up 1.8 percentage points from 2018. Higher rates were reported by hotels (42.8%), bungalows (31.4%), tourist villas (27.8%), accommodation onboard ships (27.3% ), hostels (25.2%), campsites (23.1%) and pensions (22.4%). Most arrivals of foreign tourists were from Germany (296,200), followed by Israel (234,500), Italy (222,300), the US (161,800), Hungary (156,800), France (154,100) and the United Kingdom (139,100). The arrivals of foreign visitors in Romania registered at the border points, January 1 - December 31, 2019 totalled 12.815 million, up 9.3% y-o-y. The means of road and air transportation were the most used for by foreign visitors to come to Romania, making up 74.5% and 22.9%, respectively, of the total number of arrivals. The departures of Romanian visitors abroad registered at the border points were 23,065 million in 2019, up 9.6% from 2018. The means of road and air transportation were the most used for Romanians to travel abroad, accounting for 68.5% and 30.9%, respectively of the total number of departures. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)