Romania Seeks to Boost Tourism Numbers

By Razvan Amariei for Southeast European Times in Bucharest

In 2004, 6.6 million foreign citizens entered Romania. The number increased by about 13 per cent compared to 2003, but only about a quarter of the visitors were tourists. Some experts believe potential tourists are still being kept away by the cost of travel in Romania, which is high in relation to the quality of services.

Hotel rates rose about 10 per cent this year. According to Lucia Morariu, the president of the Tourism Agencies National Association, the increase was due to inflation. Others, however, have charged that the new owners of Romania’s formerly state-owned hotels simply don’t know how to manage them, and customers are paying higher prices as a result.

Other problems facing would-be travellers include poor road infrastructure and a lack of tourist amenities in some areas. At the same time, seaside and mountain resorts present another type of problem — open-air bars and discotheques that play loud music deep into the night, interfering with the sleep of nearby hotel guests. Hoping to make the seaside more tourist-friendly, the environment ministry decided to order the removal of such establishments from the beachfronts, but then re-authorised some construction after officials realised that tourists need at least some beach-bars. Now state officials are at odds with their municipal counterparts, such as Constanta Mayor Radu Mazare, who is refusing to allow the new buildings to be constructed.

Romania also suffers from an image problem abroad, with many still viewing it as the country of Ceausescu, street children and stray dogs. The government hopes to change such perceptions, but has been hampered by a lack of marketing expertise. “We haven’t found people in Romania who had done such work, so we’ll have to call in some consultants from abroad,” Saptamina Financiara’ quoted Valeriu Turcan, head of the Governmental Strategies Agencies, as saying.

Despite the obstacles, authorities as well as tourism companies are optimistic, projecting that the number of foreign visitors will keep growing. German tourism giant TUI plans to sign an agreement with Bucharest officials to open an agency in Mamaia, a Romanian seaside resort. The company hopes to draw tourists to the Black Sea coast, the Danube Delta, the Carpathian resorts and the historical regions of Maramures, Bucovina and Transylvania.

Marius Crivtonencu, chief of the National Tourism Authority, hopes the Romanian resorts will attract 10 per cent more visitors this year, compared to 2004. The season has shifted from 15 May to 15 September to 1 May to 1 September, and the results have been noticeable. During a period when hotels formerly were closed, they are now packed with visitors — especially elderly tourists, who have come for the famous anti-aging Gerovital treatment. Foreigners, in fact, remain the tourist industry’s best hope for increased profits.

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