The number of foreign tourists in Romania declined in May for the 11th month in a row and the drop accelerates this year but the local tourism industry seems to maintain momentum as the number of Romanian tourists rises.
In May, the number of foreign tourists in Romania declined by 5.1 percent year-on-year to 272,600, on lower interest of tourists from all over the world, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The number of foreign tourists from Europe declined by 6 percent compared to May 2018, to 205,300, while the number of Asian tourists decreased by 12.8 percent, to 31,300.
The number of north-American tourists slightly rose by 2.4 percent to 21,500.
The number of foreign tourists in Romania became to decline in July 2018 and never stopped ever since.
A recent BR Analysis showed that Romania’s major problem for its tourism industry is not weak promotion, but poor road, rail and accommodation infrastructures.
Despite the trend seen in the second half of last year, the number of foreign tourists in Romania has reached a record-level of 2.79 million in 2018, up 1.3 percent compared with 2017.
In January-May 2019, the number of foreign tourists in Romania declined by 6.1 percent year-on-year to 920,500 – this means a drop by more than 60,000 foreign visitors compared with the first five months of 2018.
By countries, the main sources of foreign tourists in Romania this year are Germany, Italy, Israel and France.
The number of local tourists in Romania rose by 10.1 percent in the first five months of 2019, 3.39 million.
The overnight stays, a key index for the tourism sector, increased by 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first five months, to 8.4 million.