Romanian Holiday Tickets Still To Gain Popularity – Tour Operators

“So far, we have not seen any holiday ticket holder. It is not enough for someone to get a ticket from work, the tour operator must also sign a contract with the issuer of that ticket,” said Antonio Nitu, general manager of Aerotravel Lufthansa City Center said.

 

According to Nitu, ticket issuers charge fees between 2.5% and 5%, half of the fee tour operators are allowed to charge when selling holiday packs paid with holiday tickets.

 

In February, the Romanian approved the introduction of holiday tickets for employees and set their value at up to six gross minimum wages a ticket.

 

Employers cover the entire amount of the tickets. The sums, however, are deductible from the companies’ tax on profit.

 

Under the act, employees who receive tickets cannot use them to buy holiday packs except at tour operators who sign contracts with the tickets’ issuer. In addition, employees cannot check in to hotels other than the ones who sign contracts with the same ticket issuer.

 

However, most of the tour operators in Bucharest refuse to sign deals with companies that issue holiday tickets, given the high fees they charge.

 

“No one came to my agency with holiday tickets. I did not sign any deal with ticket issuers, because they demand fees between 4.5% and 7%. It is a waiting game now. They wait for us to cave in, while we wait for them to drop the fees below 1.5%,” said Dragos Raducan, secretary general of Romanian Tourism Employers’ Association and head of tour operator Magest Travel.

 

“Until I see a line of people with tickets in front of my agency, I will not sign a contract with anybody,” Raducanu added.

 

Officials of Happy Tour, Romania’s biggest tour operator based on revenue, said they had no demand from ticket holders as well.

 

The tour operators said some of the explanations might be that employees who want to pay with tickets for their vacation go to smaller agencies, or that the ticket distribution is not too wide yet.

 

Eximtur, one of the few tour operators who signed contracts with ticket issuers, said it sold its first package paid for with holiday tickets.

 

“It is a ticket for two at a three-star hotel in Eforie Sud (seaside resort at the Black Sea – e.n.), for the period June 12-18,” Eximtur said in a statement.

 

Eximtur’s owner Lucia Morariu said the agency signed two contracts with ticket issuers so far and that it carries out negotiations with several more companies.

 

Romanian authorities authorized nine companies to issue holiday tickets. The issuers are allowed to charge fees up to the 10% cap of the ticket’s value as well.