Foreign tourists spent about RON 3.07 billion (EUR 660 million) in Romania in the first half of this year, up by 16% compared to the same period of 2017, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS) analyzed by Romania-Insider.com.

The number of foreign tourists who checked into local hotels only went up by 5.6% in the same period, to 1.27 million, but their average spending also increased by 9.5%, to RON 2,409 (EUR 518), the data shows.

Business tourists represented over 60% of the total number of foreign tourists in the first half of this year and their spending represented 61% of the total.

Over half of the EUR 660 million foreign tourists spent in Romania in the first half went on accommodation, namely some EUR 334 million, or EUR 263 per tourist. Given that a foreign tourist spent on average 1.9 nights in local hotels, their average spending for accommodation for one night was about EUR 138, which shows their preference for upper-segment hotels.

The remaining budget went on restaurant and bar tabs (EUR 110 million or EUR 86.5 per person), shopping (EUR 87.5 million or EUR 68.7 per person), recreation (EUR 47.2 million or EUR 37 per person) and transport (EUR 42.7 million or EUR 33.5 per person).

Romania had a negative tourism balance, which means that the sums spent by foreign tourists in the country are lower than the sums spent by Romanians abroad. In the first half, foreigners spent about EUR 990 million in Romania for tourism and travel while Romanians spent EUR 1.62 billion abroad for the same purposes, according to data from Romania’s National Bank (BNR). Romania thus recorded a deficit of EUR 634 million on this segment, which is included in the current account deficit.

editor@romania-insider.com

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