June 14 (SeeNews) - The direct contribution of the travel and tourism industry to Romania's economy is expected to rise by 6.9% in 2017 to a total of 10.8 billion lei ($2.65 billion/2.36 billion euro), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said on Wednesday.
The direct contribution of the travel and tourism industry to the Romanian economy amounted to 10.1 billion lei, or 1.3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, the WTTC said in its Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 report on Romania.
The value is seen rising by an annual 2.9% over the next 10 years to 14.3 billion lei, or 1.6% of GDP, in 2027.
Travel and tourism investment in the country amounted to 14.7 billion lei in 2016, or 8.1% of total investment, and the WTTC expects it will rise by 3.5% in 2017.
Romania's travel and tourism sector generated 197,500 jobs directly in 2016, a figure that is forecast to rise by 2% this year.
(1 euro= 4.5667 Romanian lei)