OREANDA-NEWS.  May 21, 2014. According to NBS, 2.03 thousand foreign tourists visited Moldova through travel agencies, up 41.1% as compared with the same period of the past year.

About 59.6% of foreign tourists arrived in Moldova for holidays, 26% visited our country for business and 5.2% for cure. Most of them – 24.8% came from Romania; then followed the tourists from Russia– 15.7%, Ukraine – 14.1%, Germany – 4.4%, Turkey and Italy – 3.5% each, the USA – 3%, Belarus – 2.7%, Armenia – 2.5%, Poland – 2.2%, Sweden – 2.1%. In Q1, 2014, travel agencies and tour operators organized abroad travels for 15.6 thousand tourists and sightseers, 12.2% more than in the same period of 2013.

Most Moldovan tourists (96.2%) left Moldova for holidays. They mostly visited Romania 31.6%; Bulgaria – 19%; Ukraine – 8.5%; Egypt – 8.1%; UAE – 3.2%; Turkey - 3.1%, Austria – 2.7%; Greece -2.1% and other countries. In Q1, 2014 a number of tourists travelling within the country was 6.7 thousand, up 29.3% versus the same period of the past year.

About 33% of internal trips were organized by travel agencies and tour operators of the municipality of Chisinau, 35.7% by the Centre Development Region and 29.6% by the South Development Region.