According to a study by CEC Bank in collaboration with FinZoom.ro, 50% of Romanians spend their summer holidays within Romania. Among them, 23% prefer seaside locations, nearly 20% favor the mountains, and slightly more than 7% visit family or head to the countryside. Furthermore, about 33% of Romanians indicate they will not take any vacation this summer, whereas 16.75% intend to travel abroad. In terms of holiday arrangements, 57.5% of Romanians make their bookings independently, 24% typically do not make any reservations, and around 13.5% utilize travel agency services. Just over 5% depend on recommendations from friends and acquaintances.
When inquiring about the length of their summer holidays, over 45% stated they will take a vacation lasting 3-4 days, 28.6% opt for a week-long holiday, nearly 11% set aside 10 days, and 15% aim for 14 days or more. Relaxation is the main motivation for 64% of vacationers, while more than 35.5% will merge work with leisure activities. Fewer than 1% travel purely for shopping purposes.
Concerning vacation funding, over 77% save money throughout the year, 9% borrow from friends, nearly 7% make use of vacation vouchers, and around 5% depend on credit cards or overdrafts. Only 2% receive holiday bonuses from their employers. For expenditures during their vacations, more than 38% plan to pay in cash, about 22% will use a combination of cash and cards, while the remainder will utilize various combinations of debit and credit cards.
For card transactions, CEC Bank clients can utilize the VISA Multicurrency card, which allows access to ten different currencies. Vacation costs can also be settled with a CEC Bank credit card in as many as 24 interest-free monthly payments at any merchant across the globe. Regarding holiday budgets, 42% report a reduction of 10% to 30% compared to the previous year. For one in four individuals, the budget remains similar to last year’s, while approximately 10% plan to spend 10% to 30% more.
CEC Bank customers can purchase road vignettes, huvinietes, or pay the toll for the Fetești-Cernavodă bridge via the CEC app. The study was carried out online by FinZoom at the request of CEC Bank, encompassing a representative sample of around 1,200 respondents nationwide. 58% of participants are employees, over 70% reside in urban settings, and 40% possess higher or postgraduate education.
