More foreign visitors arrived in Romania in the first nine months of 2011, compared to the same period of 2010. The number of foreign arrivals went up by 12.6 percent during this period. Most foreign visitors came from Germany, Italy, France, UK, and US, according to the National Association of Travel Agencies in Romania (ANAT). However, “statistics show that the share of foreign tourists of the total tourists in Romania is the lowest in the entire European community,” according to the ANAT report.

Foreigners preferred cultural tours, health tourism – where the number of foreign tourists increased by 16.5 percent, the Danube Delta – with 45 percent more tourists in 2011, Black Sea cruises – 20 percent more foreign tourists than in 2010, travel city break  - Bucharest was preferred by young people, and the seaside.

In 2011, Romanian tourists chose the traditional foreign destination and exotic places. Romanians preffered Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Spain.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)