In Moldova con mezzi propri

Most foreign visitors prefer to come to Moldova all by themselves
November 20 2006
  

A majority of foreign visitors prefer to come to Moldova and accommodate without local tourist companies' assistance.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in January through September this year, only 20% (9.4 thousand persons, or 20.6% less than in 2005) of the total number of foreign guests arrived here through tourist agencies. Of them, 4.8 thousand came on business (-27.3%), and 4.2 thousand came for rest (-14%).

The largest number of guests was from Romania - 1.8 thousand (+28.9%), followed by Turkey - 1.1 thousand (-43.3%), Ukraine 1 thousand (-26.9%), and Russia 968 (-34.9%).

In the first 9 months of this year, 58.9 thousand nationals of Moldova availed themselves of tourist agencies' services to go abroad - a quarter more than in the equivalent period of last year. Although the number of Moldovan travelers going abroad for business purposes has tripled this year, still an overwhelming majority (51.8 thousand, or +20.9%) went to various foreign countries for rest. And 37.8 thousand Moldovans undertook tourist voyages to various localities in the home country.

Moldovans prefer to go to Bulgaria - 17.8 thousand (+85.5%), Turkey - 13.2 thousand (+17.2%), Ukraine 12.7 thousand (-0.6%), Romania 6 thousand (+23.8%), Russia 3.7 thousand - 15.6 times more than last year.

The National Bureau of Statistics pointed out the reduction, by 13.2%, of foreigners' accommodation at hotels, and by 33.8% - at countryside rest houses.

However, interest to rural tourism has grown up 4.1-fold, and to sanatoria - by 2.2 fold. Mainly those latter were former nationals of Moldova now living abroad.