Foreign tourists spend EUR 615 mln in Romania in six months. Who gets most of their money?

Foreign tourists thus spent some EUR 615 million in Romania, in the first six months, up 7% compared to the same period of 2015, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The number of foreign tourists who checked in Romanian hotels and guesthouses went up by 12% in the first half of this year, to over 1.09 million, but the average sums they spent declined by almost 5%, to EUR 562. Business travelers represented 59% of the total number of foreign tourists and their spending reached 57% of the total, or some EUR 354 million. Business travelers spent 53% of their budget on accommodation, which means that local hotels got about EUR 188 million from this tourist category in the first six months. Business travelers also spent 16.3% of their budget, some EUR 58 million, in bars and restaurants, and 5.5% (EUR 19.5 million) on transport. Leisure tourists represented 41% of the total number of foreign tourists and spent some EUR 261 million. They allotted 42% of their budget (close to EUR 110 million) for accommodation, 12.7% (EUR 33 million) on going out to bars and restaurants, and close to 13.5% (EUR 35.2 million) for shopping. Almost a quarter of their expenses, some EUR 63.4 million went on recreational activities. Overall, local hotels got some EUR 300 million from foreign tourists in the first six months of the year, while bars and restaurants got EUR 91 million. Over 4.4 million foreigners entered Romania in the first half of 2016 Romania’s biggest music festival brings 30,000 foreign tourists to Cluj-Napoca editor@romania-insider.com