The Position of Countries of Central and Eastern Europe on the International Tourism Market

Abstract

This chapter characterizes the contemporary role of the Eastern and Central European countries in the international tourism and as the source of the tourist movement and the income and expenditure balance in the foreign tourism. Among the Central and Eastern European countries, there are 20 former socialist countries. Some of them came into existence as a result of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia disintegration. Their total surface adds up to 64% of the Europe area. Tourist potential of the Central and Eastern European countries is significant, expressed by, among the others, a high number of national parks, natural and cultural UNESCO heritage objects and by the capacity of the accommodation units (2014, 2.7 million of beds). The size of the international incoming tourism is illustrated with data for 2005 and 2013 concerning the number of foreign visitors (280 million and 308 million), foreign tourists (280 million and 99 million of people) with overnight stays (95 million and 103 million) and financial income arising from attending them (34 billion euro and 85 billion dollars). Outbound tourism of Central and Eastern Europe inhabitants in 2005 and 2013 amounted to 129 billion and 124 billion of departures and expenditures of 31 billion euro and 99 billion euro. The financial balance taking into account the income from attending international tourism as well as the inhabitants’ own expenditures spent for outbound departures amounted to +3 billion euro in 2003 and –14 billion dollars in 2013.