MINSK, 2 March (BelTA) – Belarus' outbound tourism was up by 15.5% in 2019 with 982,900 outbound visits (850,700 in 2018), BelTA learned from the Belarusian Statistics Committee.
The most popular destinations were Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, Poland, Tunisia, Lithuania, Montenegro and Georgia (85.5%).
The Belarusians visited the CIS member states (21.3%), the EU (25.5%) and other countries (53.2%).
The tourism inflow was up by 11% in 2019. The number of tourists and excursionists traveling inside the country totaled 405,500 people (365,500 in 2018). Belarus' most valuable tourism source market was Russia 53.7% (57% in 2018). Others included were Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, China, Germany, Ukraine, Estonia, the UK, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
The average period of stay in Belarus in 2019 was 4 days (5 in 2018).
Inbound tourism has been growing. In 2019, the number of tourists traveling inside the country totaled 72,400 people. The number of excursionists reached 1034,500 people (65,200 and 942,600 in 2018 respectively).
There were 597 tourism estates including 385 hotels and accommodation facilities. In 2019 they accommodated 2,081 million people. Belarusians accounted for 46.4% of them, foreigners made up 53.6%, including 36.3% from the CIS.
There were 492 spa resorts and other special-purpose facilities in Belarus in 2019 including 76 health centers. They accommodated 869,400 people, 27.8% foreigners.
According to the Taxes and Duties Ministry, in late 2019 there were 2,760 ecotourism estates in Belarus. The number of tourists opting for this type of holidaymaking made up 514,800 people, with Belarusians accounting for 90.5% of them.
As of late 2019, some 1,544 organizations provided tourism services in Belarus for 2,495 million people.
