Corina Martin, Secretary General of the Federation of Hospitality Industry Employers in Romania (FPIOR), warns that last year Romania attracted just over 2 million foreign tourists, representing only 5% of all tourists in the country, a very low number compared to Tunisia, which in 2024 was visited by 12 million foreign tourists, more than its own population of 11 million.

'Romania attracted just over 2 million foreign tourists last year, unfortunately. I just returned from Tunisia, where last week we had a bilateral meeting with our new partner federation in Tunisian tourism. Tunisia, for example, has 12 million foreign tourists and a population of 11 million. We had 2 or 2.6 million registered foreign tourists last year,' Corina Martin told a press conference on Thursday.

The FPIOR secretary general believes that Romania could attract more foreign visitors if it invested more in promotion, noting that currently only about 2 million euros are spent annually for tourism promotion.

'We want more foreign tourists. We are not doing well at all in this area. And if we also lose Romanian tourists - on whom Romanian tourism fundamentally relies - we are in trouble. You should know that 95% of Romania's tourists are Romanians. We still have a lot of work to do. We need a significant promotional budget. Unfortunately, Romania remains at about 2 million euros a year for tourism promotion, which is not enough to attract a large number of foreign tourists,' Martin explained.

Another barrier for foreign tourists, according to her, is the lack of domestic air travel connectivity, which makes getting around Romania by plane difficult.

Corina Martin is attending the Annual Conference and General Assembly of the Romanian Airports Association in Sibiu, the most important event in Romania's civil aviation industry. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Isabela Paulescu; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)