The spending abroad doubled compared with 2008, when it stood at EUR1.47 billion.
“Demand for vacations went up last year. The most active holiday package buyers are those Romanians aged 30 to 50, with higher than average budgets who vacation abroad two to four times a year,” said Mircea Vladu, owner of tour operator Holiday Office, which specializes in outgoing travel packages and whose revenue rose 20% last year.
The expansion of low-cost airlines, which connected Romanian airports to more and more destinations abroad in Europe and beyond, has been a driver of the rising demand for trips abroad. Air traffic on all the country’s airports increased by 23% to more than 20 million passengers in 2017, which is a record high.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)