Only one third of the Romanians who can afford to go on holiday this year would choose to go abroad, compared to half in 2010 and 42 percent last year, according to a recent IRES study.

The recent study shows that one in five Romanians choose to go on holiday only during the summer. Half of the respondents said they will go to the seaside this year, 27 percent, to the mountains, 11 percent would like to visit a city and only 4 percent want to go to a spa.

Somewhat unexpectedly, around a quarter of the interviewed Romanians say they have never to the Black Sea coast.

Holiday budgets slightly shrunk in 2012 compared to the previous year, and the higher the education level, the lower the holiday budget this year, the study found.

Around 40 percent of the respondents said they will allot less than RON 1,000 (the equivalent of some EUR 220) for the summer holiday, and a quarter plan to spend up to RON 2,000 this year – or some EUR 440. Only 7 percent of Romanians would like to spend up to RON 4,000 – some EU 880 and 5 percent plan to spend RON 6,000 – around EUR 1,320.

The study was carried on in July on a sample of 1,540 people over 18, with a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percent.

editor@romania-insider.com