Growing appeal of Romanian culture
Romanians and foreign tourists visiting Romania are increasingly interested in culture
Roxana Vasile, 08.07.2024, 14:00
Romanian and foreign tourists who visit Romania are increasingly interested in culture, Culture Minister Raluca Turcan says. The Romanian official referred to a recent report of the National Statistics Institute according to which, in 2023, the number of visitors to museums, public collections, botanical gardens, zoos, aquariums and nature reserves went up by over 3 million compared to the previous year. A total of 19.1 million people visited such venues in 2023! The number of people who attended the “Night of Museums” increased from 481,000 in 2022, to 596,000 in 2023, when the network of public museums and collections included 464 public and state venues, an 18 increase compared to the previous year, Minister Turcan argues. At the same time, over 33.5 million cultural and natural assets were made available to the public, up by 713,000.
The number of shows and concerts, as well as the number of guests, was also on the rise last year. More specifically, public institutions and show and concert organizers held over 24,000 performances in the country, attended by over 6 million spectators, by nearly 2 million more than in 2022. At the same time, the number of active users in libraries was 57,000 higher compared to 2022. Romanians borrowed 600,000 more books in 2023. Active subscribers borrowed, on average, 11.5 books per year, Culture Minister Raluca Turcan says.
The Romanian official particularly appreciated the professionalism and dedication of employees of cultural institutions who managed to increase the public’s interest in events and cultural activities, as confirmed by statistical data. According to statistics, in 2023, 525 newspapers and magazines were operational on the market in Romania, a 14-unit increase compared to 2022. The 300 publishing houses editing newspapers published 240 print papers and 289 online publications. The national production of films was also mentioned by the Romanian official. A total of 49 films were produced in 2023, 33 feature films and 16 shorts. The cinema industry included 103 cinema units, which had 462 cinema halls and a total of 81,300 seats. 1,590 films were screened in cinemas, watched by 13 million spectators (compared to 11.2 million in 2022).
Finally, last year, public television stations aired over 61,000 hours of broadcast content while the air time of public radio stations totaled nearly 170,000 hours. It’s also worth mentioning that in 2023, 310 private television stations and 599 private radio stations operated on the relevant markets in Romania. (VP)
