Romanian Tourism: EUR 400 Million Earned in 2021

Foreigners who choose to visit Romania in 2021 contributed more than EUR 400 million to Romanian tourism. Yet, even this figure is low, compared to Romania’s neighbours, especially Hungary.

According to INS (National Institute of Statistics), 837,700 non-resident tourists arriving in Romania spent on average EUR 480 per person in 2021. The number of tourists in Romania for 2021 recorded a significant growth of 90% compared to 2020. However, not all foreign tourists came to Romania for visiting purposes.

Inbound travel to Romania for business

For business purposes, including attending congresses, conferences, courses, fairs and exhibitions, 57.4% of the non-resident tourists arriving in Romania in the fourth quarter of 2021 spend a percentage of  56,9 of the total expenses of foreign tourists in Romania.

Of the total business expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2021, the main share represents the expenses for accommodation (46.1%), from this type of expenses being preferred, especially accommodation with breakfast included (89.6% of total accommodation expenses). Expenses of non-resident tourists in restaurants and bars were 17.9%, and those for shopping have accounted for 18.9% of total business expenditures. Of the total expenses for shopping, 41.9% was for food and drink, and 29.2% for clothing and footwear. Expenses for car rental had 61.3% of total transport costs, and amusement park access costs, fairs, casinos, gaming rooms accounted for 25.2% of entire recreation.

Inbound travel to Romania for leisure

Among non-resident tourists arriving in Romania in 2021, 46.9% travelled for leisure. Their expenses represent 44.3% of their total costs. Travel for a particular purpose includes holidays, shopping, cultural and sporting events, visiting friends and relatives, medical treatment, religious pilgrimage, transit and other activities.

The primary means of transport used to arrive in Romania in the fourth quarter of 2021 was the plane, operated by 81.9% of the total number of tourists, while 14.9% used their cars, 2.8% coaches and buses, and 0.4% arrived by other means of transport (train, riverboats, rented vehicles, motorcycles, etc.).

Statistics for Bucharest

According to Visit Bucharest, since the official statistics in 2020 stated that Bucharest is no longer Romania’s most visited city, the Romanian capital remained on the same spot in 2021. Bucharest took the top rank in 2019 with almost 2 million tourists, both residents and foreigners, but now it seems that the main reason for the decline was the pandemic.

Regarding the arrivals of foreign tourists in Bucharest in 2021, the Romanian capital cannot be prod with a vast number of tourists. Looking back to the year 2020, when Bucharest was ranked third place on the most visited Romanian cities after Constanta and Brasov, in 2021, statistics remained the same.

Bucharest was the most visited area in Romania because it has the most developed hotel infrastructure, attracting millions of tourists annually, most of them coming for business purposes. In 2021, just over 900,000 tourists arrived in accommodation units in Bucharest.

Although Romania is facing a crisis due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we hope that tourism will not be strongly influenced by it in 2022, even though there has not been a significant decrease registered yet.