Tourism: Study: Romanians want to travel more in 2022

The Romanians will be more available for traveling than in the pre-pandemic period, but there will be some changes in their preferences for accommodation and services, according to data released by a hotel website.   According to the latest study made by Szallas Group, which includes the online websites Travelminit.ro and Nielsen IQ, smaller accommodation units such as guest houses, chalets and apartments are more and more looked for by Romanians. Practically, in Romania, the share of hotels dropped from 26% in 2019 to 24% in 2020, while the share of non-hotel bookings grew from 20% to 24%. The non-hotel segment includes apartments, villas and summer houses.   The orientation toward online platforms was visible in the tourist industry. More than three quarters of respondents are looking for information about accommodations and travel opportunities on online booking websites. Moreover, abroad accommodations with wellness packages included will be in demand, while traveling intentions in the country grew by 30% in the case of hiking, 16% for business trips and 14% for various programs.   According to studies made by Szallas Group and Nielsen IQ, Romanians want to travel for recreation, but during the pandemic, 20% more respondents said they chose domestic destinations in 2021 compared to other years. At the same time,the study shows a significant increase of traveling by private car in Romania and in Central and Eastern Europe, considering that 96% of respondents generally prefer traveling y their own cars.   Also, there will be an increase of international traveling in the next 203 years. According to the study, in the future, Romanians want to travel twice more often than in pre-Covid years, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, to countries like Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria. Until now, only 26% of Romanians used to go on vacations once a year.   The study made by Szallas Group involved over 6,000 people. The questionnaire, field work and data analyses were prepared by Nielsen IQ global market research campaign. The sample was made of respondents who previously received the bulletin on Szallas Group products, representative for travelers interested in the evolution of tourism.