May 18 (SeeNews) - The number of tourists staying in Moldova fell by 30% on the year in the first three months of the year, reaching 38,762, the country's statistical office said on Monday.
The data reflects the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the measures taken by the authorities as a result after enforcing a state of emergency on the Moldovan territory starting with March 17, the statistical office, BNS, said in a statement.
As much as 29.3% of 18,475 foreign tourists who visited the country during the first quarter arrived from Romania, 15.9% came from Ukraine, while Russian tourists accounted for 9.8%,
Tourists booked 163,000 overnights in Moldova during the first three months of 2020, down 20.1% on the year. Foreign tourists booked 44,053 overnights, a drop of 35.1% on the year.
During the January-March period, the average length of stay of a Moldovan tourist in the accommodation facilities in the country was 6.9 days, while foreign tourists stayed for 3.4 days on average.
In 2019, the number of tourists staying in Moldova rose by 2.8% on the year to 374,765.