The number of Romanian tourists who celebrated their New Year's Eve in domestic pensions or hotels went down by 8% from the previous year, to 95,400 people, and spent sums were 13% smaller, at 124.5m RON, according to the data provided by the Federation of Romanian Tourism Business Owners (FPTR).
At the same time, the number of Romanians who spent their New Year's Eve abroad dropped by 20%, to 10,500 persons, who spent 13% less, namely 5.75m euros.
"Internal travel tariffs dropped by 20-25% from last year, to the level of two years ago, while foreign travel tariffs decreased by only 10%. Despite all these reductions, the number of tourists fell to the level of 2004-2005 New Year's Eve," reads a FPTR statement.
Prahova Valley resorts were still in highest demand, with the occupancy rate reaching 95%. The other mountain resorts were also in high demand, getting to an occupancy rate of 85%.
Another segment in demand was that of large cities, with around 25,000 tourists spending their night between the years in hotels and restaurants there.
Approximately 30,000 Romanians celebrated the New Year in rural locations, with this segment being the only one that registered an increase in the number of tourists against 2008, according to FPTR. Besides officially registered tourists, at least a similar number of tourists partied in unlicensed pensions, according to the above-quoted source.
"There is a category of tourists who prefer to spend their New Year's Eve break in the Danube Delta, but their number is falling despite the highly affordable tariffs," FPTR statement also reads.
At the same time, the number of tourists who chose the Romanian seaside for their New Year's Eve party went down by 40%, to 800, though almost 5,000 heated accommodation places are available in seaside resorts.
As regards foreign destinations, the highest in
