Tourism direct GDP (2023) | Tourism direct employment (2023) | Travel exports (2024) |
|---|---|---|
2.4% of total GDP (equal to levels in 2022) | 5.5% of total employment (up 0.2 percentage points since 2022) | 13.3% of total service exports (up 0.8 percentage points since 2023) |
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026
National tourism strategy: National Tourism Development Strategy 2023-35
Responsible government agency: Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism
National tourism budget: RON 26.8 million (2025)
Key tourism policy priorities and actions:
Managing tourism at the destination level – Developing DMOs that adhere to Romania’s established legal framework and certification process.
Developing the tourism offer – Developing and promoting niche tourism products, particularly related to rural, cultural, spa and ecotourism.
Promoting Romania internationally – Considering the impact of marketing beyond advertising to include and encourage business participation at in-person events.
Tourism plays an important role in the Romanian economy. In 2023, tourism directly accounted for RON 38.6 billion, representing 2.4% of GDP. The tourism sector directly accounted for 5.5% of total employment in Romania, representing 364 200 jobs.
In 2024, Romania recorded 2.4 million international overnight visitors in commercial accommodation establishments, 13.8% higher than in 2023, but still below pre-pandemic levels. The three main source markets were Germany (10%), Italy (9%) and Israel (6%).
Domestic tourism remains a critical component of Romanian tourism. Romania recorded 12.2 million domestic overnight visitors in accommodation establishments in 2024, 14% above pre-pandemic levels and 3.1% above 2023.
The Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism is the national administration responsible for tourism in Romania. The main tourism-related fields of activity include:
Developing and implementing national and sectoral tourism strategies.
Promoting Romania as a tourism destination domestically and abroad.
Developing destinations and tourism products.
Developing tourism-related infrastructure.
Authorising and controlling tourism services.
Representing Romania in international tourism organisations.
The Minister is supported by the Consultative Council for Tourism, which considers and discusses key aspects related to the implementation of tourism policies. The Council includes representatives of private companies, associations, federations, professional foundations, employers’ organisations active in the field of tourism, and organisations supporting the business environment with members active in the tourism sector. The steering committee is composed of elected members, according to different areas of tourism activity.
Local administrations collaborate with the Ministry to implement tourism policies. In the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, the Ministry included establishing DMOs as a priority. Romania now has 36 certified DMOs - 1 at the regional level, 9 at the county level and 26 at the local level.
In 2025, the tourism budget including the programme for tourism marketing and promotion and the programme for the development of tourist destinations, forms and products, decreased to RON 26.8 million from RON 55 million in 2024.
Note: The chart shows the section for tourism within the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation Entrepreneurship and Tourism
Source: OECD, adapted from Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, 2026.
The National Tourism Development Strategy 2023-35, developed with support from the World Bank, aims to make Romania a well-known, high-quality, year-round tourism destination with a focus on the country’s unique cultural and natural heritage, and high-quality services. The Tourism Strategy is supported by:
National Strategy for the Development of Ecotourism – which guides efforts to capitalise on ecotourism in areas where nature and local culture occupy a central place, spanning the period 2019-2029.
Strategy for the Development of Spa Tourism – which aims to modernise and expand spa infrastructure, as well as attracting investment to this high-potential sector. The Action Plan is still in development with a proposed timeframe until 2030.
Operationalising DMOs has been a long-term priority for Romania to improve tourism management at the destination level. Based on the existing legal framework for the establishment and operationalisation of DMOs on different levels and the procedure for certification of DMOs, there are now 36 certified DMOs in Romania (1 at regional level, 9 at county level and 26 at the local level). This includes 7 new county level and 8 new local level DMOs since 2024. In order to support the DMOs in developing their destination, they will be offered financing for undertaking investments in tourist infrastructure, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Work is also being undertaken to develop a national level DMO that will help to co-ordinate work across all DMOs in Romania, with its main objective being to develop and implement the tourism development and marketing strategy for destination Romania. This initiative has strong support from the Romanian tourism sector.
Romania is also working to develop the tourism offering, focusing on the specific categories of:
Rural tourism: to promote diversity of the tourist offer in rural destinations, steps are being taken to promote the specialisation of villages located in the proximity of popular tourist resorts (see box below). Romania also actively participates in the UN Tourism Best Tourism Villages initiative.
Culture tourism: Romania has established 12 cultural tourist routes and has committed to the creation/modernisation of nine museums and memorials, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Romania also actively promotes cultural-tourist routes developed at local, regional or national level. Currently, over 150 cultural-tourist routes are recognised.
Ecotourism: Building on the National Strategy for the Development of Ecotourism, a system was developed to evaluate ecotourism destinations in Romania, based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Global Criteria for Sustainable Tourism and the European Ecotourism Standard. At present there are 6 designated eco tourist destinations.
Spa tourism: In addition to the Action Plan 2025-2030, designed to implement the objectives proposed in the Strategy for the Development of Spa Tourism, local administrations receive support to invest in spa infrastructure through the Master Plan of Tourism Investments. A state aid scheme is available to encourage tourism businesses to invest in tourist, spa, cultural, sport and leisure infrastructure in the vicinity of spa resorts, to diversify the tourism offer and to increase the quality of tourist and connected services, and to support the expenses related to the training of the workforce. This scheme provides a grant of up to 50% of the eligible expenses related to the project to a maximum for EUR 200 000.
Rural tourism is a significant tourism product of Romania based on an authentic rural culture spread throughout the country in all historical regions and encompassing various geographical characteristics.
In March 2025, the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism launched the programme ‘Recognising the thematic specialisation of villages from the vicinity of tourist resorts of local or national interest in Romania’.
The Programme aims to highlight the precious treasures of the rural culture which must be analysed, developed and promoted for the future generations. It focuses on folk art, cycling, traditional gastronomy, viticulture, fish-farming, collection of medicinal plants, plantations of aromatic plants, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, history, nature and tranquillity, balneology, animal husbandry, horse breeding, and pop-culture tourism. Proposals can be sent to the ministry by the local public authorities or DMOs according to the specialisations mentioned in the documentation.
More than 200 villages have been recognised for their specialisation, and an interactive map has been created to marking their location.
The promotion of Romania internationally remains a key priority and is done through participation in tourism fairs, organising familiarisation trips for journalists and travel agencies, outdoor campaigns and media campaigns. To support the participation of tourism businesses at national stands organised by the Ministry, a state aid scheme provides a grant for accommodation and transport expenses.