Around 1.8 Million Tourists Were On Romanian Sea Coast This Year, Down 15% On Year

"Revenue fell harder than the number of tourists because prices were lower than last year. Cheap special offers were the most popular. Without them, the season would have performed more poorly. They saved us," said Martin.

She added that, although there were a few weekends when resorts were full up, the occupancy rate did not exceed 50% during weekdays. Over the entire season, hotels on the Black Sea coast were over 60% full.

"Because of budgetary constraints, the state did not promote any of the agencies' special offers. We ask the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism to support these offers next year. Had we received some assistance, we might have had no decline this year," said the head of ANAT.

According to Martin, the number of foreign tourists who spent their holiday on the Romanian coast increased by more than 30%, to 4000 people, from 3000 last year, owing mainly to a new Air Berlin flight to the seaside.

The ANAT official estimates prices will stagnate last year and even drop by 10% during the intermediary season (June 15-July 15 and August 15-September 15). She also expects the number of foreign tourists to swell, as two Constanta-Tel Aviv flights will be introduced next year.

"There was a series of special offers, but everything was sold at the last minute. For this reason, agencies couldn't prepare any sort of strategy," said Marius Usturoiu, general manager of tourism agency Mareea. He said 2-3-star hotels were the most popular with Romanian tourists, who stayed for an average of five nights, paying a total 500-800 lei (EUR1=RON4.2687).

According to Alin Burcea, owner of tourism agency Paralela 45, only the local market declined, as foreign destinations proved popular with Romanians. Burcea blames the Romanian coast's poor image: "In the eyes of Romanians, the Romanian brand is weak. If they find offers with similar prices outside the country, they prefer to go abroad, although Romanian hotels aren't any worse than those in other countries."

Nicolae Bucovala, head of the Mamaia association of more than 40 seaside hotels, believes this year's significant decline should be traced not to the lower number of tourists, but to their lower consumption. He also said access to the resorts, both by road and by rail, posed a significant challenge to the sector.

If you liked this story, please follow MEDIAFAX.RO on FACEBOOK »

The content of mediafax.ro is for your information only. Republishing or using this content is forbidden without express consent of MEDIAFAX. For this consent, please ask for it by mail at vanzari@mediafax.ro.