A Profile of the Romanian Tourist 2015

A look at the preferences of Romanian tourists.

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Ștefan Baciu, 15.07.2015, 12:41

In the last 10 years, between 2004 and 2014, and even in 2015, Romania underwent fundamental changes, economically and socially. Joining the EU, the economic crisis, and emerging out of the crisis, have influenced Romania, not only at a large scale level, but also at the small level, in terms of individual choices and habits. For instance, a recent study run by the National Association of Tourist Agencies indicates the fact that lately Romanians have started traveling more, with low-income people and seniors spearheading the trend. Adrian Voican, the head of the marketing commission of the above mentioned association, told us about the changes that have occurred in the last decade:

“The most interesting thing to me is the fact that we have a 50% drop in the number of Romanians who dont go anywhere on vacation. If 10 years ago, 44% of Romanians said they did not go anywhere on vacation, in 2014 that figure was 22%. Half of those who used to not go on vacation have now become consumers. Then we can say that 50% of Romanians spend their holidays in the country, as was the case 10 years ago. What has changed? The number of Romanians who spend vacations abroad went up three times. 10 years ago these were a very small percentage, below 10%. Today, 24 to 25% of Romanians go abroad on vacation.

The reason for this evolution is not just a change in the economic situation of Romanians, but also the rising diversity of tourist offers, dropping prices, and also a change in mentalities. Here is Adrian Voican:

“Tourism is more accessible, more popular. 10 years ago, tourism was more a matter of luxury or of circumstance – for instance, some employees got vacation vouchers from their company – while retirees and seniors did not leave home at all. This has changed. Back then, a third of people going on vacation chose two-star accommodation. Today, only 15% still do so. 10 years ago, only 11% of vacationers had a budget of 1,000 lei or less. Back then, if you had a modest income, you simply did not go on vacation. Today, even the people allocating a 1,000 lei budget – a modest budget by 2014 standards – for vacation go somewhere, to the percentage of 36%. Why is that happening? We now have the system of early booking, which slashes prices significantly. Vacation is no longer a luxury, but has become a necessity, a consumer habit. A vacation is part of the regular spending basket, even for a family with modest earnings.

We asked Traian Badulescu, a tourism consultant, about the destinations favored by these tourists:

“Domestically, the main destination right now is the Black Sea and its resorts. Most tourists go on vacation in the summer, and right now we are at a point at which over 2 million Romanians go to the seaside for either the weekend or for weeklong stays. Highly sought after is also spa tourism, all over the country. Also, lately the Danube Delta has become more and more popular, through travel agencies. We cannot overlook mountain tourism either, which has always been a favorite with Romanians. We obviously also have rural tourism, but that is less favored in terms of going to village B&Bs through travel agencies. In spite of all that, this type of accommodation is more and more popular lately. It is true that another form of tourism that is in full development is adventure tourism. We have tourist clubs that organize such trips both at home and abroad. Exploration or trekking tourism is growing a lot.

As expected, the favorite means of transportation right now is the airplane, even though 10 years ago most people traveled abroad by bus or coach. Today, 55% of tourists travel by plane, while a decade ago only 21% did so. We asked Traian Badulescu to which destinations Romanians are more inclined to fly:

“In terms of foreign travel and summer destinations, Romanians prefer Greece by far, the number one destination right now. Next on the list are Turkey and Bulgaria, but also other destinations in the Mediterranean, such as Spain, Italy and Malta. These are preferred by Romanians, for their services, but mostly for proximity reasons. More and more Romanians choose European tourist circuits, including the UK and Ireland, but they are also going to remote locations, such as the Far East, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Latin America. Also, more and more opt for cruise packages. Mediterranean cruises are the most popular with Romanians. Even though most of them travel during summer, during winter they choose more and more city breaks in European cities. Also, during winter they opt more and more for mountain destinations, such as Austria, which has been number one for years now.

In conclusion, Romanians prefer the seaside in the summer and the mountains in winter, a lot of times for the possibility of practicing winter sports.