The pensions are the only form of tourism by which Moldova can attract someone. In 2019, there were 66,000 tourists who stopped at pensions and 46,000 of them were Moldovans, said economic expert Veaceslav Ioniță, of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”. In his author program “Economic analyses with Veaceslav Ioniță”, the expert said a pension can survive if its capacity is at least 40% used during a year. In the Republic of Moldova, pensions are used at such a capacity only during three months – in July, August and September. Therefore, the costs are higher, the profit is low and those engaged in this process are discouraged as pensions wait for tourists, but these do not come, IPN reports.
Last year, the Republic of Moldova was visited by almost 13,000 tourists fewer than in 2019. The country’s tourist potential in 1992 was of about 300,000 tourists from outside the country, while after the dissolution of the USSR, the number of foreign tourists decreased to 26,000 and throughout the 30 years the Republic of Moldova annually had about 20,000 foreign tourists who came in an organized way, plus about 130,000 tourists who do not come in an organized way, but plan the vacation independently. These stop at hotels, eat in restaurants and behave like tourists, but do not come in an organized way. During 30 years, about 85% of the tourists who visited Moldova come in a non-organized way, while about 15% - in an organized way.
Veaceslav Ioniță noted that after 2002-2003, the ratio of foreign tourists brought by a travel agency to Moldovans who went abroad to vacation was one to several. Now this ratio is 1:15.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic left the most serious imprint on Moldova’s inbound tourism since the fall of the USSR. From the countries from which by two-three tourists came annually, almost no one came during the pandemic year 2020, except for Romania. Starting with 2010-2011, the number of Romanian tourists visiting Moldova has grown, to about 5,100 in 2020. “The only positive thing caused by the pandemic in the tourism sector is that Romania decided to discover the Republic of Moldova and provided 70% of all the foreign tourists,” stated Veaceslav Ioniță.
