Romanian tourism is in a technical recession after declining in ten of the twelve months of 2025, the vice president of the National Travel Agencies Association (ANAT), Adrian Voican, told AGERPRES on Thursday.
"At government level, there is concern that Romania risks being officially recognized as in a technical recession. Two consecutive quarters of decline mean exactly that. Tourism has clearly been in recession: in 2025 we saw drops in ten out of twelve months. Even if we exclude January, which benefited from good snow conditions, the end of the year brought sharp decreases, from -2% to -12% or -13% in December. And this won't stop, because the 2025 holiday vouchers that were spent also included leftover vouchers from 2024. Issuance fell by over 60% in 2025, and consumption by 30%, so the downward trend continues. If this doesn't reverse, we don't know whether operators, agencies and hotels can absorb the negative impact of the government's anti-tourism measures, such as the VAT increase on August 1, right in mid-season, which disrupted hotel IT systems," Voican said.
He underscored the need for urgent measures to encourage both Romanian and foreign tourists to spend their holidays in Romania.
"We need clear, simple public policies to strengthen these two pillars. Holiday vouchers have been criticized, but professional studies conducted with the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, the Romanian Academy, Mercury Research and ANAT show their impact. The number of classified accommodation units has grown fourfold since 2006, from 6,300 to 19,000, with over 600,000 beds. New units have been built, some four- and five-star, with investments of EUR 20 - 30 million, and many others have moved from the grey economy into the formal sector. That is a major gain. There is also the social impact for low-income beneficiaries," he added.
Voican also pointed to the National Bank's warning that Romania's tourism foreign-exchange balance shows a EUR 4.5 billion deficit. "More money is leaving the country. We are happy to travel abroad, of course, but this means imports and pressure on the balance of payments. Meanwhile, we fail to attract foreign tourists," he said.
Earlier this year, Voican noted that issuance of new holiday vouchers in 2025 collapsed by almost 64% compared to 2024, generating budget savings of nearly EUR 250 million.
"The 2025 figures hide an alarming reality: domestic tourism survived largely on leftover vouchers, but reserves are running out. Without a proper refresh, 2026 risks a severe blockage. If at least EUR 25 million of the 250 million saved are not redirected to promotion and incoming bonuses, 2026 will be extremely difficult, with no levers to attract Romanian or foreign tourists," said the ANAT vice president and president of BIBI Group4Travel.
The spring edition of the Romanian Tourism Fair opened on Thursday at ROMEXPO, bringing together visitors and industry professionals - travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, guesthouses, destination representatives, promotion associations and other tourism service providers - for four days.
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