Over three quarters of Romanians don’t go on holiday

Over three quarters of Romanians (76%) didn’t take a tourism trip for personal purposes in 2016, the highest share of all EU member countries, according to statistics released by the European statistical office Eurostat. The main reasons for the low participation in tourism are financial constraints, invoked by 55.3% of Romanians, work or study commitments (13.1%) and health reasons (12.8%). High shares of population not participating in tourism were also recorded in Portugal (74.4%) and Bulgaria (70.2%). The EU average was 37.9% and the lowest share was in Finland, where only 8.6% of the population took no tourism trips in 2016. In Romania, only 24% of the population took part in tourism in 2016 and only 1.6% went on holidays abroad whereas the EU averages stood at 62.1%, respectively 32%. Some two-thirds of Romanians were unable to pay for a one-week annual holiday in 2016, the highest share in the EU, Eurostat statistics also show. How do Romanians choose the best hotel for their holidays? editor@romania-insider.com