The tourists and excursionists who took part in tourism organized by travel agencies and tour operators  in the first three months of this year numbered 44,500 or by 18.6% more than in January-March 2022, IPN reports.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the higher number of tourists and excursionists in the period was due to the rise in the number of participants in outbound tourism (Moldovans who travelled abroad) by 12,100 (+74.2%) and in inbound tourism (foreigners who travelled to Moldova) by 1,900 (+58.2%). Domestic tourism decreased by 38.9% or 7,000 persons compared with January-March 2022.

A number of 28,400 persons travelled abroad through travel agencies and tour operators in January-March 2023. The Moldovans preferred to travel to Egypt (35% of all those who travelled abroad), Romania (27.8%), Turkey (9.3%), Bulgaria (6.7%), the Czech Republic (2.8%), the United Arab Emirates (2.6%), Hungary (2.4%), Italy (2.2%), the Maldives (2%), Spain and France (by 1%).

Also, 5,100 foreigners visited Moldova in the period through travel agencies. Of them, 88.9% were one-day visitors (excursionists) who came to rest, being primarily from Romania (31.8% of all the foreigners who visited the country), Ukraine (24.8%), Italy (7.8%), the U.S. and Israel (by 6.4%), France (5.9%), Germany (4.9%), Russia (4.7%).

The number of visitors who took part in internal tourism this January-March was of about 11,000. The travel of Moldovan residents inside the country for touristic purposes was organized especially by travel agencies and tour operators based in the municipality of Chisinau (49.3%), the center development region (33.3%) and the south development region (17.3%).