Romania, second-highest rise in visitor exports

BUCHAREST – This year Romania will rank second in the world in terms of the increase rate of expenses by foreign visitors, according to a ranking drawn up by the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC).

According to WTTC estimates, Romania will see the visitor exports index pick up 19.9 per cent, with the world leader in this respect, the United Arab Emirates, reporting a 20.3 per cent increase. The next positions are held by Montenegro (19.8 per cent), Bahrain, Venezuela, Japan, Chile, Nepal, Macau and Trinidad-Tobago.

Romania is also among the top ten destinations in the world in terms of the real-terms increase in GDP in the tourism and travel sector, with WTTC experts estimating a 16.6 per cent advance. Under these circumstances, Romania may rank seventh in the world, after Kuwait (44 per cent), Angola, Luxembourg, Venezuela, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. For the period 2008-2017, the report sees Romania as holding the tenth position in the standings, with an annual 7.9 per cent increase of this indicator. Also, the number of employees in the domestic tourism and travel industry will increase by 11.5 per cent this year (eighth-largest increase).

WTTC expects Romania to become in the ensuing ten years one of the top ten destinations in the world in terms of the total demand in the tourism service market, with an annual growth of 7.4 per cent. As for this year’s figures, operations in the tourism sector will total RON 27.7 bln (USD 10 bln), up 9.5 per cent since last year.

At a global level, the tourism market will generate USD 7,060 bln this year and will touch USD 12,231 bln by 2017. The Romanian tourism and travel economy currently ranks 58th in the world in absolute terms, 157th in terms of the contribution to the economy as a whole and seventh in terms of annual growth, out of the 176 countries covered in the report.

Nine O'Clock