Arrivals in Romania's tourist accommodation establishments, up 5.8 pct in Q1 2019

Arrivals in Romania's tourist accommodation establishments in the first quarter of 2019 were up 5.8 percent as compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching almost 2.32 million, with only 19.2 percent foreign tourists, shows data released on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). 

According to the cited source, between 1 January and 31 March 2019 the average length of stay was 1.9 days for Romanian tourists and two days for foreign tourists. 

Of the total number of foreign tourist arrivals in tourist accommodation units, tourists from Europe accounted for the highest share, 74 percent, with 82.5 percent of this category hailed from EU states.

Overnight stays in tourist accommodation establishments totaled 4.48 million in the first three months of the year, up by 8.7 percent y-o-y. Of the total overnight stays in tourist accommodation units, Romanian tourists accounted for 80.1 percent, while overnight stays of foreign tourists were 19.9 percent. Visitors from Europe account for the highest share of foreign tourists' overnight stays (72.9 percent of the total foreign tourists) and of these, visitors from EU countries represented 80.8 percent. 

The net occupancy rate of accommodation units in Q1 2019 was 24.5 percent overall, up 1.8 percent from the previous year's first three months. 

Of the total number of foreign tourists who checked in with Romanian tourist accommodation establishments most came from Italy (44,800), Germany (44,700), Israel (43,100), France (27,500), United Kingdom (26,000) and the USA (24,200). 

There were 2.227 ml incoming foreign visitors registered at border checkpoints in Q1 2019, up 4.7 percent compared to the year before, with road and air transport being the most used, accounting for 73.8 percent, 24.1 percent, respectively from the overall number of arrivals. 

According to INS data, only in March 2019 as compared to March 2018 arrivals in tourist accommodation units totaled 800,400, up by 5.1 percent, and overnight stays amounted to 1.519 million (+ 6.7 percent). The average length of stay in March this year was 1.9 days for Romanian tourists and two days for foreign tourists.