The Moldovan tourism in 2020 went through a difficult period, being among the sectors that suffered the most as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In two years, the tourism sector has fully recovered. This way, the number of Moldovans who vacationed abroad in 2022 was the highest. After the war in Ukraine broke out, Turkey and Egypt became the preferred destinations of the Moldovans, said expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul” Veaceslav Ioniță”, IPN reports.

According to the expert, each fourth Moldovan goes on vacation in the EU. In 2022, 110,800 Moldovans went to one of the EU member states to vacation using the services of travel agencies. The Commonwealth of Independent States is not among the Moldovans’ preferred holiday destinations. About 8,000 Moldovans vacationed in the CIS in 2017 and 90% of these spent their holidays in Ukraine. After Ukraine withdrew from the CIS, only about 300 Moldovans went to the Commonwealth to vacation.

Veaceslav Ioniță said that Turkey and Egypt are now the main holiday destinations for Moldovans. Over the past five years, the Moldovans visited 136 countries in an organized way. The top ten visited countries of the 136 are: Turkey – 42.9%; Bulgaria – 20.2%; Egypt – 12.1%; Romania – 9.8%; Greece – 5.1%; Ukraine – 2.8%; Montenegro - 1%; Hungary and Italy – by 0.7%; Spain – 0.6%.

“Some of the Moldovans who vacation abroad go by themselves, while others go through travel agencies. In the case of foreign tourists who come to the Republic of Moldova, the ratio is of 5:1, which is five come unofficially, by themselves, while one comes through travel agencies,” stated the expert.