Tourism: Tourist arrivals in accomodation units on the rise in Q1 2025 in Romania

Tourist arrivals in accommodation units (including apartments and rooms for rent) increased by 1% in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, while overnight stays increased by 2.2%, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).According to the official statistics, between January 1 and March 31, 2025, 2.496 million people arrived in tourist accommodation units in Romania, of which 82.5% were Romanian tourists, and 17.5% were foreign tourists.Also, 4.773 million overnight stays were recorded, up 2.2% compared to the first three months of the previous year, of which tourists represented 79.9%, while foreign tourist overnight stays accounted for 20.1% of the total.In the reference period, the average length of stay was 1.9 days for Romanian tourists, and 2.2 days for foreign tourists, respectively.According to the same source, the net occupancy rate of tourist accommodation units, reported for the period January - March 2025, stood at 23.3% of total tourist accommodation units (including apartments and rooms for rent), up 0.3 percentage points compared to the first quarter of the previous year.By county, during the same period, the number of tourist arrivals in tourist accommodation units (including apartments and rooms for rent) recorded higher values in: Bucharest Municipality (435,000 people), Brasov (335,400) and Prahova (134,100). At the same time, overnight stays recorded higher values in: Bucharest Municipality (890,300 people), Brasov (634,400) and Prahova (264,300).By country, most arrivals of foreign tourists accommodated in tourist units in Romania came from: Italy (50,600 people), Germany (36,300) and the United Kingdom (34,500).INS data reveal that, in March 2025, arrivals registered in tourist accommodation units (including apartments and rooms for rent) amounted to 831,800 people, down 2.7% compared to the same period last year. Of the total number of arrivals, Romanian tourist arrivals represented 79.9%, and foreign tourist arrivals accounted for 20.1%.At the same time, overnight stays stood at 1.574 million, down 1.7% year-on-year, with the highest share among Romanian tourists (77.1%).In March this year, the average length of stay was 1.8 days for Romanian tourists and 2.2 days for foreign tourists, and the net occupancy rate of tourist accommodation units stood at 22.5% of the total tourist accommodation units (including apartments and rooms for rent), down 0.4 percentage points compared to March 2024.INS specifies that, after Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, on January 1, 2025, starting with January of this year, information regarding the arrivals of foreign visitors to Romania and the departures of Romanian visitors abroad are no longer comparable and will no longer be published.