Over 7.5 mln foreign tourists arrived in Romania in the first 11 months of 2013, mostly from Europe

Arrivals of foreign visitors in Romania reached 7.5 million in the first 11 months of 2013, up one percent year-on-year, according to the data provided by the National Statistics Institute INS. Over 93 percent of the foreign visitors came from European countries. Almost 60 percent of the total arrivals of foreign visitors to Romania were from EU Member States, mainly from Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Poland and Austria. In the first 11 months of 2013, over 10 million Romanian visitors went abroad, 1.8 percent up compared to the same period in 2012. Arrivals recorded in tourist accommodation units between January and November 2013 totaled 7.4 million, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, while the overnight stays registered during this period amounted to over 18 million, close to the level reported in the previous year. In November 2013, the arrivals of foreign visitors to Romania, according to customs registrations, amounted to 525,000, one percent down compared to the same month of 2012, according to INS. Most of the foreign visitors came from European countries, with 63.1 percent of the total arrivals of foreign visitors being from EU Member states. Departures of Romanian visitors abroad, recorded at the checkpoints November 2013, were of 795,500, down 1.6 percent year-on-year. The arrivals recorded in tourist accommodation units in November last year totaled 579,500, up 5.8 percent against the same month of 2012. The arrivals of Romanian tourists represented 78 percent of the total, while the rest were foreign visitors, according to INS. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com