Low Prices, Few Reservations For Holidays In Romanian Prahova Valley Resorts

According to officials of the Tourist Information Center in Sinaia, a resort in Prahova County, only around 75% of some 10,000 registered lodging spaces in the town's hotels and villas have been reserved. In early December 2008, all these places had been taken. Fees have not gone up since last year, with some operators even cutting their prices by 10-15%.

The cheaper villas are the most sought-after this holiday season, having been fully reserved. Tourists paid upwards of 1,000 lei (EUR1=RON4.2062) for three nights in a villa with 5, 6 or 7 rooms in Sinaia, however that sum only covers lodging, leaving out meals and the New Year's party.

In Sinaia hotels, prices vary between a few hundred RON and a few hundred EUR, depending on features. The cheapest packages are for two-star hotels, with tourists paying RON550 per person for three nights, breakfast, New Year's Eve dinner and a festive meal on the first day of the new year.

The price of a tourist package in a three-star Sinaia hotel is, on average, RON1,500. In four-star hotels, the price starts at EUR490 and can reach EUR1,000.

A similar situation is in the resort of Busteni. The town's mayor, Emanoil Savin, who owns a hotel and several villas in Busteni, said that while New Year's Eve was booked up completely in November last year, right now boarding houses are more popular, with hotels only 50% reserved. The mayor said that prices are even 25% lower than last year.

"You can tell there is a crisis in tourism," Savin said, adding that on Monday hotel operators in Busteni will launch new tourist packages to attract more mountain-lovers to Busteni this winter.

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