SEE countries draw EU vacationers

13/07/2009

Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania are among the top 28 foreign destinations where EU citizens are planning to spend their summer holidays.

(Sofia Echo, European Commission; Croatian Times, ANA-MPA; MINA, World Economic Forum)

Tourists flock to beach near the Black Sea town of Nesebar, Bulgaria. [Getty Images]

Five Southeast European countries are among the top 28 foreign destinations for EU holidaymakers this year, according to a recent Eurobarometer report. Beaches, glorious mountain views and a rich variety of historical sites continue to draw summer visitors to Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.

In a survey conducted by the Gallup polling agency among residents of the 27-nation bloc, half of the 27,000 respondents said that they would take a holiday either in their home country or in another EU member state. Another 20% indicated that a non-EU nation was their choice for 2009, while 19% were almost certain that they will not travel this year. About 11% said that financial problems have put a damper on their holiday plans.

As in 2008, Spain, Italy, France and Greece will be the four most popular foreign destinations for EU holiday-makers this year, according to the survey. The United States, Turkey and Croatia came next, ahead of Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulgaria accommodated 1% of all EU holidaymakers in 2008, and was ranked 17th among the 35 most favoured foreign destinations for Europeans. According to the Eurobarometer report, 0.7% of the respondents in the Gallup poll said they were planning to spend their main holiday in the Balkan nation this year, thus placing it 20th among the top 28 world destinations on the 2009 list.

Romania, the 30th most visited foreign country by EU tourists last year, has now emerged as the 26th most favoured place for a holiday for citizens of the bloc, the survey showed.

Cyprus, which was ranked 24th among the 35 world destinations that attracted the highest numbers of EU visitors in 2008, was not among the 28 most cited nations this year.

Visitors enjoy the view of in Dubrovnik, Croatia. [Getty Images]

However, with an overall score of 4.92 on a scale of zero to seven, Cyprus was ranked 21st in the world, up from 24th last year, in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) third annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness (TTC) report.

As in the two previous surveys, Switzerland, followed by Austria and Germany, took the leading positions in the TTC Index 2009, included in the Geneva-based organisation's 525-page study covering 133 countries in the world.

The index is based on the scores the countries are given in three broad categories -- regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure, and human, cultural and natural resources. They cover a total of 14 areas, such as policy rules and regulations, environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene, transport and tourism infrastructure, and affinity for travel and tourism (T&T).

The report, under the theme "Managing in a Time of Turbulence", "reflects the difficulties the industry currently faces, which must be overcome to ensure strong sectorial growth in the future", the WEF said.

Like Cyprus, four other SEE countries -- Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania -- have also improved their global rankings over the last 12 months. Montenegro made the biggest progress, jumping seven positions to become the world's 52nd most competitive economy in the T&T area today, with an overall score of 4.29. Romania (4.04) and Macedonia (3.81), each climbed up three places to the 66th and 80th, respectively. Albania's score of 3.68 placed it 90th in the world this year, up from 92nd in 2008.

Greece was the second most competitive SEE country in terms of travel and tourism. Its score of 4.91 placed it 24th in the world, down from 22nd last year. Turkey (4.20) and BiH (3.44) also lost two positions each to stand 56th and 107th, respectively. Bulgaria dropped seven places to 50th, with a mark of 4.30, while Serbia fell ten spots in a year to stand 88th in the world today, on the basis of a score of 3.71.

The third most competitive among the SEE countries in the T&T area, according to the WEF report, Croatia retained its 34th position on the global list owing to its "stable" performance and an overall score of 4.54. It was ranked higher than a number of EU countries, including Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

A tourist takes a picture from the top of an ancient clock tower that is the entrance to the walled city of Sighisoara, Romania. [Getty Images]

To be able to further improve the competitiveness of its T&T sector, Croatia must "bring policy rules and regulations in the country more in line with those that are needed for developing the sector," the study said. It also needs to upgrade its air and ground transport infrastructure, particularly ports, the WEF experts also noted.

Greece, Cyprus and Turkey scored best among the SEE countries, with marks in the range of 5.0-5.5, on "quality of air transport infrastructure".

Albania (2.20) and BiH (1.97) were cited among several Eastern Europe countries that recorded a low score on this indicator.

"If they were able to upgrade their transport infrastructure to the European average -- for example, by creating the conditions for an increase of the number of available seat kilometres or by improving their international air transport network connectivity -- these countries might increase the number of passengers by 9% and 11%, respectively," the report said.

Greece, Croatia and Cyprus were ranked 5th, 6th and 8th in the world, respectively, on "tourism infrastructure," for which they were given their best marks of 6.6 to 6.7. Bulgaria was 12th with 5.8 points.