Tourism in Romania has contracted in the first nine months of 2025, according to official data, with the decline mainly driven by a drop in the number of Romanian tourists. Industry representatives warn that the negative trend is accelerating and attribute the situation to government measures, in particular the modification of the holiday voucher system, calling for its reintroduction to prevent a crisis in the sector and related areas.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (NSI) for the period January-September 2025, arrivals in tourist accommodation facilities totaled 10.95 million people, down by 1.8% compared to the same period in 2024. Romanian tourists accounted for 82.2% of the total, while foreigners accounted for 17.8%. The total number of overnight stays amounted to 23.87 million, 0.9% less than in the previous year, with the share being 83.3% for Romanians and 16.7% for foreigners. The average length of stay was 2.2 days for Romanian tourists and 2 days for foreign tourists. Net occupancy rate decreased by one percentage point to 30.8%.
Geographically, the most arrivals were recorded in Constanța county (1.745 million), followed by Bucharest (1.488 million) and Brasov (1.045 million). The same three areas also top the overnight stays: Constanța (5.386 million), Bucharest (2.984 million) and Brasov (1.983 million). Most foreign tourists came from Germany (194,800), Italy (162,200) and Israel (124,100).
Adrian Voican, vice-president of the National Association of Tourist Agencies (ANAT), emphasizes that the situation is worse than the aggregate figures show. He points to a deepening decline in the number of Romanian tourists, from -6.3% in August to -7.5% in September (compared to similar months in 2024). Although foreign tourist arrivals increased by 11% in September, this increase does not compensate for the loss at home. “We are losing 80,000 Romanian tourists and gaining 20-something thousand foreign tourists, in total we have a net loss,” Voican explained, emphasizing that domestic tourism is the base of the market.
The ANAT representative believes that the decline is caused by the VAT increase, the fall in purchasing power and, above all, the end of holiday vouchers, a tool that was supporting the sector. According to it, purchases with holiday vouchers fell by 85% in September 2025 compared to the same month last year. ANAT is calling on the government to urgently reintroduce holiday vouchers at their previous level to stop the “collapse of Romanian tourism” and the knock-on negative effects on sectors such as food, agriculture, transportation, and cultural and sporting events.