INS: Arrivals in tourist accommodation units up 5pct in January; 16pct were foreign tourists

Arrivals in the tourist accommodation units increased by 5 per cent in January 2020 against January 2019, up to 796,300, with foreign tourists accounting for 16 per cent of the total number of tourists, according to data of the National Institute of Statistics (INS) sent to AGERPRES on Monday.

Thus, arrivals recorded in the tourist accommodation units were up 5 per cent in January 2020 against January 2019, totalling 796,300 arrivals. Romanian tourists accounted for 84 per cent of the total number of arrivals in January this year, while foreign tourists represented 16 per cent.

In respect to arrivals of foreign tourists, the highest share was represented by the European tourists (73.2 per cent of the total foreign tourists), 77.8 per cent of whom came from European Union countries.

According to the INS, overnight stays recorded in the tourist accommodation units in January 2020 totalled 1.575 million, up 7 per cent against January 2019.

Of the total number of overnight stays, Romanian tourists accounted for 82.5 per cent and foreign tourists for 17.5 per cent.

In respect to overnight stays of foreign tourists in the tourist accommodation units, most of them were coming from Europe (72.1 per cent of the total foreign tourists) and 75.4 per cent of whom were from EU member states. The average stay in January was of 1.9 days for the Romanian tourists and 2.2 days for the foreign ones.

The net use index of accommodation places stood at 25 per cent in January 2020, while considering the total tourist accommodation units, up 1.6 per cent from January 2019. The highest net use indexes of accommodation places in January 2020 were recorded in hotels (31.0 per cent), tourist villas (22 per cent), bungalows (19.9 per cent), hostels (19.4 per cent), tourist boarding houses (18.6 per cent) and tourist cottages (16.4 per cent).

The arrivals of foreign visitors to Romania, as recorded at the border checkpoints, amounted to 823,700 in January 2020, up 12.7 per cent compared with January 2019. The majority of foreign visitors came from countries located in Europe (94 per cent). Of the total arrivals of foreign visitors to Romania, 47.9 per cent came from the states of the European Union. Of the EU states most arrivals were from Bulgaria (38.2 per cent), Hungary (23.3 per cent), Italy (8.3 per cent), Germany (5.8 per cent), Poland (4.4 per cent), France (3.7 per cent) and the United Kingdom (3.0 per cent).

The departures of the Romanian visitors abroad, as recorded at the border checkpoints, amounted to 2,044 million in January 2020, up 14.1 per cent compared with January 2019. Road transport was the most used means for the departures abroad, representing 70 per cent of the total number of departures.

Most of the foreign tourists' arrivals in the tourist accommodation units came from Israel (14,200), Italy (13,000), Germany (12,700), the Republic of Moldova (7,500) and France (7,300). AGERPRES