Some 445,000 foreign tourists visited Romania in the first four months of 2014, which is 8.7 percent more than in the same period last year, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). More than one in five visited Bucharest or other major cities while less than 5 percent went to the mountain winter resorts.

Almost 80 percent of foreign tourists to Romania - 353,000 - are European. Most of them come from Germany - some 54,400, Italy - 50,600 and France - 32,200, registries from the local tourism facilities show.

However, the number of tourists from Asia increased the most, by 42 percent, to 47,600, while tourists from North America were 20 percent more than in the first four months of 2013, at 28,300.

The number of hotel nights booked by foreign tourists in Romania was up 7.6 percent in the analyzed period, to 880,000. This means that on average foreign tourists spent two nights in Romania.

The number of Romanian tourists grew by 3.9 percent in the same period, to over 1.53 million. They booked 3.06 million hotel nights, 9.1 percent more than in the same period last year.

More than 2.07 million non-residents entered Romania in the first four months, which is a 5.1 percent increase year-on-year, according to data from Romanian border crossing points. Some 3.52 million Romanians went abroad during the same period, 6.5 percent more than in the first four months of 2013.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Continental Hotels)