Nearly 500,000 tourists were hosted by accommodation structures on the Romanian seaside in the first two months of this season (June and July), 5% fewer compared to the same period last year, according to the data of the statistics office INS.

The decline is much lower than the hotel owners’ expectations of a 30-40% drop for this entire summer season, as mentioned by Ziarul Financiar daily.

Such pessimistic estimates were based on the fact that tourists were able to travel after two years of restrictions.

The number of tourists arriving at the seaside is, however, much higher considering that there are many accommodation units that operate in the grey market, while other units do not report the data to the statistics office, ZF comments.

(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)

andrei@romania-insider.com