Tourism in Romania

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Tourism in Romania
Website https://romaniatourism.com/
Number of arrivals Tourism in Romania.svg
Number of arrivals

Romania's tourism sector had a direct contribution of EUR 5.21 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018, slightly higher than in 2017, placing Romania on the 32nd place in the world, ahead of Slovakia and Bulgaria, but behind Greece and the Czech Republic. The total tourism sector's total contribution to Romania's economy, which also takes into account the investments and spending determined by this sector, was some EUR 15.3 billion in 2018, up by 8.4% compared to 2017. [1]

Contents

In the first three months of the year 2018, there were 3.12 millions of foreign tourists. Compared to the same 3 months of the previous year, arrivals increased by 10.9% and overnight stays in accommodation establishments increased by 7.1%. [2]

In the first nine months of the year 2019, there were 10 millions of foreign tourists. Compared to the same 9 months of the previous year, arrivals increased by 10.2%. [3]

According to National Tourism Statistics, 15.7 million domestic and foreign tourists stayed in overnight accommodations in 2018. Of these 2.2 million are recorded as foreign tourists. [4]

The most visited cities are Bucharest, Constanța, Brașov, Timișoara, Sibiu, Alba-Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, Sighișoara, Iași and Oradea. Natural touristic attractions include the Danube, the Carpathian Mountains, and the Black Sea. The most popular destinations for tourists are the capital city Bucharest, Brașov County, Cluj County, Prahova County, Constanța County, Bihor County and Sibiu County. [5]

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Romania

Administrative divisions of Romania Romanian license plate codes.png
Administrative divisions of Romania
Biertan (German: Birthalm
) Transylvanian Saxon medieval fortified church in Sibiu County, central Romania Kirchenburg Birthalm.jpg
Biertan (German : Birthälm) Transylvanian Saxon medieval fortified church in Sibiu County, central Romania
Slatioara secular forest near Campulung Moldovenesc in Suceava County, northeastern Romania Karpatenlandschaft bei Slatioara.JPG
Slătioara secular forest near Câmpulung Moldovenesc in Suceava County, northeastern Romania

Activities

Protected virgin beach at Corbu, Constanta County, southeastern Romania Corbu, Romania - panoramio.jpg
Protected virgin beach at Corbu, Constanța County, southeastern Romania

Major tourist attractions

Festivals

Electric Castle Festival in 2017 Electric Castle 2017 - Main Stage view.jpg
Electric Castle Festival in 2017

Foreign visitors by country

Most visitors arriving to Romania in 2022 were from the following countries: [10]

RankCountryNumber
1Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 3,292,747
2Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 2,607,301
3Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 1,538,805
4Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 864,546
5Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 728,255
6Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 403,485
7Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 379,910
8Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 235,485
9Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 231,741
10Flag of France.svg  France 195,619
11Flag of the United States.svg  United States 173,334
12Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 115,730
13Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 98,571
14Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 93,196
15Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 77,431
16Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 66,121
17Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 49,693
18Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 46,390
19Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 44,697
20Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 41,991
21Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 41,095
22Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 37,447
23Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 23,403
24Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 22,732
25Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 15,788
26Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 14,071
27Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 11,690
28Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 10,589
29Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 10,282
30Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 8,270
31Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 5,135
32Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 3,757
33Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 2,599
34Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2,462
Total foreign12,696,800

Facilities for disabled travellers

Facilities for disabled travellers in Romania range from patchy to nonexistent. Anyone with mobility problems should go prepared and ideally have local contacts. Although it has made some slow strides towards disabled access since then, and new buildings need to be wheelchair-accessible, implementation has been very poor. In practice Romania remains by and large off-limits to disabled travellers. [11]

Industrial and creative tourism

Industrial tourism, as a niche of tourism in Romania and as a solution to the restructuring and disappearance of former large industrial sites (mining, metallurgy, heavy industry), takes on interest in the country still slowly, despite the country's join to the European Union in 2007. Even if presently the country is confronted with a long and difficult economic transition, it has a rich industrial and scientific history with many of the world's priorities and still has surviving authentic traditional crafts and rural communities. Limited to some geographic areas and not yet on a large scale, by the means of European funds and projects, a sustainable revival of the traditional sector is supported, which also implies creative tourism participatory activities. [12]

Against this big potential, there are relatively few entities, the majority being state owned, that are organizing, providing or permitting public visits, a main cause of this still being the weak implication and support of many public authorities. Meanwhile, the tourism stakeholders pay a relatively weak attention to the hard core of this niche (industrial heritage, technique, science and living industry), and practically there are not many package offers of this kind on the market, with some notable exceptions: ethnographic and wine tourism, also some rehabilitated industrial and forest narrow railways and steam engines still operating.[ citation needed ]

Primary attractions

According, [13] an industrial and creative tourism attractions web directory for Romania and some neighbouring countries, providing photos and short English descriptions of each objective, the main attractions open to the public are:

Infrastructure

There are 16 international commercial airports in service today. Overall, airports in the country were transited in 2016 by 16.4 million passengers. The largest number of passengers was attracted by Bucharest's Henri Coandă International Airport, which closed the year with a traffic of almost 11 million passengers. [14]

Romania also has a large network of railways, CIA World Factbook lists Romania with the 22nd largest railway network in the world. [15] The railway network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks.

See also

Related Research Articles

Transportation infrastructure in Romania is the property of the state, and is administered by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Constructions and Tourism, except when operated as a concession, in which case the concessions are made by the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transylvania</span> Historical region in Central Europe

Transylvania is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains and to the west the Apuseni Mountains. Broader definitions of Transylvania also include the western and northwestern Romanian regions of Crișana and Maramureș, and occasionally Banat. Historical Transylvania also includes small parts of neighbouring Western Moldavia and even a small part of south-western neighbouring Bukovina to its north east. The capital of the region is Cluj-Napoca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cluj County</span> County of Romania

Cluj County is a county of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mureș County</span> County of Romania

Mureș County is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reorganization that re-introduced the historical județ (county) system, still used today. This reform eliminated the previous Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region, which had been created in 1952 within the People's Republic of Romania. Mureș County has a vibrant multicultural fabric that includes Hungarian-speaking Székelys and Transylvanian Saxons, with a rich heritage of fortified churches and towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Căile Ferate Române</span> Company operating railways in Romania

Căile Ferate Române was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on October 1, 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of 10,777 km (6,697 mi), of which 4,029 km (2,504 mi) (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is 22,247 km (13,824 mi), of which 8,585 km (5,334 mi) (38.5%) are electrified. The CIA World Factbook lists Romania with the 23rd largest railway network in the world. The network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks, providing pan-European passenger and freight services. CFR as an entity has been operating since 1880, even though the first railway on current Romanian territory was opened in 1854. CFR is divided into four autonomous companies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aiud</span> City in Alba County, Romania

Aiud is a city located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The city's population is 21,307 (2021). It has the status of municipiu. The city derives its name ultimately from Saint Giles (Aegidius), to whom the first church in the settlement was dedicated when built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roads in Romania</span> Overview of the various roads in Romania

Public roads in Romania are ranked according to importance and traffic as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armorial of Romania</span>

The Romanian government is the armiger in Romania. It exercises this right under the mandatory advice of the National Committee of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography. The committee is subordinate to the Romanian Academy. All the coats of arms of Romanian institutions must be approved by this committee with two exceptions. The Romanian military is subject to the Ministry of National Defense Heraldric Committee, and Romanian law enforcement institutions are subject to the Ministry of Administration and Interior Heraldric Committee. Both of these committees may share members with the National Committee of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocăniță</span>

A Mocăniță is a narrow-gauge railway in Romania, most notably in Maramureș, Transylvania, and Bukovina. Archetypically, they are situated in mountainous areas and the locomotives operating on them are steam-powered. These railways were built for cargo and passenger services – some in the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before 1918 – but fell into disrepair over the years. Some are now being rehabilitated for the purposes of tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brașov railway station</span>

The Brașov railway station is the main station in Brașov, Romania. The building on the current location was opened to traffic in 1962. The station's bell chimes preceding the announcements represent a few notes from Ciprian Porumbescu's operetta Crai Nou.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A3 motorway (Romania)</span> Partially built motorway in Romania

The A3 motorway is a partially built motorway in Romania, planned to connect Bucharest with the Transylvania region and the north-western part of the country. It will be 596 km long and will run along the route: Ploiești, Brașov, Făgăraș, Sighișoara, Târgu Mureș, Cluj-Napoca, Zalău and Oradea, connecting with Hungary's M4 motorway near Borș.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highways in Romania</span>

Controlled-access highways in Romania are dual carriageways, grade separated with controlled-access, designed for high speeds. There two types of highways, motorways and expressways, with the main difference being that motorways have emergency lanes and slightly wider lanes. The maximum allowed speed limit is 130 km/h (81 mph), while for expressways the limit is 120 km/h (75 mph). There are no toll roads, but a road vignette is required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ioan Axente Sever</span> Romanian theologian

Ioan Axente Sever was a Romanian revolutionary in Austria-Hungary who participated in the Transylvanian Revolution of 1848.

The current structure of the Romanian Land Forces is as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandru Lapedatu</span>

Alexandru I. Lapedatu was Cults and Arts and State minister of Romania, President of the Senate of Romania, member of the Romanian Academy, its president and general secretary.

The 1946–47 Divizia B was the eighth season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centenary March</span> March in Romania and Moldova

The Centenary March or Centenary March of the Great Union was a civic demonstration organized by George Simion and various non-governmental organizations from Romania and Moldova, known under the collective name "Alliance for the Centenary". It started in Alba Iulia (Romania) on 1 July 2018 and ended in Chișinău (Moldova) on 1 September 2018. Its participants, both Moldovans and Romanians, targeted 300 cities and villages, passing through several points significant for the Great Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octav Chelaru</span> Romanian film director and screenwriter (born 1991)

Octav Chelaru is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the short films Black Clothes (2017) and The Parallel State (2020) which both premiered in Pardi di Domani at Locarno Festival. In 2021, he wrote and directed the feature film A Higher Law.

References

  1. "Tourism's contribution to Romania's economy is among the lowest in the world". Romania-insider.com. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  2. "Înnoptările turiştilor în structurile de primire turistică au crescut în luna martie 2017 cu 8,6%" (PDF). Insse.ro. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. "INSTITUTUL NAŢIONAL DE STATISTICĂ Turism în creştere în primele nouă luni ale lui 2019 - 04.11.2019 | BURSA.RO".
  4. "Romanian tourism — statistical abstract". insse.ro. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  5. https://www.ebihoreanul.ro/stiri/bihor-locul-6-in-topul-celor-mai-vizitate-judete-din-tara-180515.html
  6. "Painted Easter eggs, a folkloric tradition in Romania | Photo gallery". www.webphoto.ro. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  7. "Mocănița Huțulca (Moldovița)". Județul SUCEAVA (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. "Letter from the Danube Delta: discover the waterways and villages of Romania's remotest corner". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  9. "8 Unique Waterfalls Around the World". www.theworldgeography.com.
  10. "Institutul National de Statistica : Calatoriile internationale inregistrate la frontierele Romaniei în anul 2022" (PDF). Insse.ro. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  11. "Romania for disabled travellers". enchantingromania.com. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  12. Merciu, C. (May 2010). "Tourist Capitalization of Industrial Heritage in Petrosani" (PDF). Geo Journal.
  13. Hegedus, Marius (November 2014). "Industrial and Creative Tourism Attractions in Romania". VisitFactories.
  14. "Topul aeroporturilor din România: Clujul face pasul spre 2 milioane de pasageri". monitorulcj.ro. 2 May 2017.
  15. The World Factbook, Country Comparison: Railways

Further reading