The preferred holiday destinations for Romanians in 2011 were Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, UK, Greece, Germany and France, according to Mediafax newswire, quoting data from the official statistics in these target countries.

Around 4.5 million Romanians traveled to the first ten countries in the ranking, with Bulgaria becoming a favorite destination for Romanians, mainly for its seaside – on the Black Sea, where Romania also has a seaside, but also for its mountain areas, where accessible prices and quality of services attracted Romanians.

Last year, 1.5 million Romanians went to Bulgaria, and 336,000 stayed just one or two nights, either transiting to another country or on business.  Around 1.1 million Romanians went on holiday in Hungary, most of whom stayed for one to three nights. Romanians also go to Hungary for shopping and wellness, especially those who live in the Western side of Romania. Many of the Romanians who go skiing to Austria prefer to spend the night in Hungary, while some Romanians also fly out from the Budapest airport.

Around 276,000 Romanian tourists went to Austria last year, 5.5 percent more than in 2010. Romanians prefer Austria for skiing, for wellness and for city breaks, but travel there for other reasons as well.

The UK saw 260,000 holidaying Romanians last year. Fewer went to Greece – 224,000 tourists in 2011. Germany came next in preference, with 170,000 Romanian visitors. France and Croatia are last in the ranking, with a bit over 100,000 and 63,000 Romanian tourists respectively.

editor@romania-insider.com