Romanian tourism ended 2025 with a contraction in activity, with the total number of arrivals in tourist accommodation facilities falling by 2.4% compared to the previous year, down to 13.9 million people, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). This negative development is marked by a sharp structural imbalance, with industry representatives warning of the negative impact on the country’s trade balance, as the growth of the incoming segment fails to compensate for the loss of domestic tourists.
According to official statistics, Romanian tourists accounted for 81.4% of total arrivals in 2025, while foreign tourists accounted for 18.6%. Total overnight stays registered a decline of 1.7% to 29.685 million, with the average length of stay remaining constant at 2.1 days. The net occupancy rate fell by 1.1 percentage points to 29.8%. From a regional point of view, the poles of attraction remained Bucharest Municipality (2.05 million arrivals), Constanța County (1.8 million) and Brasov County (1.39 million), the latter also dominating the ranking of overnight stays. The main source markets for foreign tourists were Germany (246,500 people), Italy (225,000) and Israel (182,600). December 2025 brought a sharp decrease, with a 5.8% drop in arrivals and a 6.2% drop in overnight stays compared to the same period of the previous year.
Adrian Voican, vice-president of the National Association of Tourist Agencies (ANAT), pointed out that the market lost 550,000 Romanian tourists and gained only 200,000 foreign tourists, adding that Romanians’ overnight stays fell drastically in December (-13.4%). Voican highlighted the major deficit generated by this sector, estimating that Romania consumes 4.5 bn. EUR more than it exports through incoming services. In this context, ANAT calls on the Government to take urgent measures to stimulate the export of tourism services, including zero VAT for incoming, a foreign promotion and rebranding budget of at least EUR 30 million, as well as bonuses for agencies that bring foreign tourists, given that only 3% of agencies are still involved in this segment, and the major international tour operators are focusing on outbound tourism.