Travel trends – Romanians have a growing interest in Asian destinations

As travel returns to normal and more and more people are looking to expand their horizons and travel interests, Romanians are also looking at other destinations, besides their preferred European city-breaks. Kiwi.com, a leading travel-tech company, offers information about where Romanians are traveling and what destinations have caught their eye: destinations in Asia are of particular interest.

According to Kiwi.com, of trips booked by Romanians through the platform, the following countries have seen the largest increase compared to the same period*, last year: Armenia, Thailand, Nepal, Maldives, Israel, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India and Indonesia. The cities with the largest growth in the number of bookings are Leeds, Ancona, Aarhus, Mykonos, Rabat, Agadir, Bangkok, Molde and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is easy to tell that Romanians are looking for new experiences, away from Europe.

Currently, the most searched destinations on Kiwi.com among Romanians are Italy (over 2.9M searches), Spain (1.8M), Germany (1.4M), the UK (1.2M), and France (over 1M searches). However, according to the platform, there is a rising interest in long-haul destinations, which have seen a considerable increase in the number of searches, compared to the same period last year:

• Singapore – 288% increase;
• Saudi Arabia – 210% increase;
• Malaysia – 191% increase;
• Hong Kong – 178% increase;
• Oman – 166% increase;
• Indonesia – 150% increase;
• Japan, who has recently reopened their borders for international travel – 124% increase;
• Philippines – 122% increase;
• Thailand – 107% increase;
• South Korea – 94.67% increase.

Asian destinations seem to be the most interesting for Romanian travelers when we look at cities, as well, with searches for Denpasar, Indonesia, increasing by 161%, and searches for other cities in Asia, such as Bangkok or Tokyo increasing by over 100%. Searches for trips to Abu Dhabi have also increased by 360%.

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“The increased interest in Asian destinations despite the expensive ticket prices can be mostly explained by the fact that demand is recovering from the past 2 years when traveling to Asia was close to impossible due to the restrictive border regulations imposed by the pandemic. Kiwi.com’s unique capability to find cheaper flight itineraries by combining low cost carriers connecting Romania to Asia via the Middle East prove to be particularly valuable for customers who want to avoid the rapidly increasing prices of the regular carriers.”, says Mario Gavira, VP of Growth at Kiwi.com.

Of Romanians who have already booked their Asian vacations through Kiwi.com, those who are traveling to Bangkok paid, on average, 515 EUR for their tickets, and 35% will spend 1 to 2 weeks there, 30% will stay for 2 to 3 weeks, and 26% chose longer stays, of 3 weeks and up to 2 months.

Those traveling to Kathmandu paid 458 EUR for their tickets, on average. 38% of them will spend 1 to 2 weeks there, 33% plan on staying at their destination for 3 weeks and up to 2 months, and 24% will spend between 2 and 3 weeks in the capital of Nepal (and, probably, its surrounding mountains).

Of Romanians who have booked trips to Malé, in the Maldives, 79% will spend 1 to 2 weeks there, and another 16% 2 to 3 weeks. The average price for their tickets is 423 EUR.

It is possible that Romanians are looking at Asian destinations for their warmer climates, and generally lower prices, until the monsoon season starts. Whatever their motivations, they are also taking advantage of prices that are still lower than they were last year, or even in 2019.

*The data refers to bookings and searches made by Romanians on Kiwi.com for travels to anywhere between January 1st and April 30th of 2023 and 2022.