romania national tourism master plan 2007 - 2026 introduction

Romania National Tourism Development Master Plan 2007-2026

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Romania National Tourism Master Plan 2007 - 2026 INTRODUCTION I Background and Objectives The Romanian Tourism Sector has suffered from the absence of an overall policy to drive and direct the sector. A Tourism Development Master Plan for Romania was prepared over a decade ago; however, much to the frustration of stakeholders in the tourism sector, its recommendations were never implemented. In recent years, technical support and assistance has been provided by the UNDP and a number of NGOs and donor agencies including USAID, GTZ, and CHF International for a range of individual projects (i.e. NTA1 website development, market research, consultancy at local level, tourist information centre set up). While much of this assistance has undoubtedly benefited the tourism sector, the implementation of these measures in isolation of an overall strategic plan for tourism is likely to generate limited results. Furthermore, most of these agencies will reduce their operations in Romania following the country’s accession to the EU in January 2007. In this scenario the Government of Romania identified a Tourism Development Master Plan as being urgently needed to prepare the foundations for the implementation of a sustainable approach to tourism development in Romania. It commissioned the United Nations World Tourism Organisation to undertake its compilation. This Tourism Development Master Plan covers the twenty year timeframe up to 2026. Critically, it incorporates a six year action programme (2007-2013) to tie in with the structural funds, which Romania receives following its accession to the EU in January 2007.

The Immediate Objective is the formulation of an overall policy framework for the sustainable development and management of the tourism industry in terms of natural and cultural resources and presented in the form of a long-term Tourism Development Master Plan covering the period 2007-2026. This Plan is an umbrella policy that includes various plans and strategies described so as to optimise the sector’s contribution to the national economy. It is anticipated that the people of Romania will participate in the benefit from the development of the tourism sector which is intended to:

� increase foreign exchange earnings; � bring the Romanian economy and society into line with that of existing EU

countries � improvement in the quality of life; � increase and encourage investments in all areas of the tourism sub-sector; � stimulate the creation of employment;

1 Throughout the Master Plan the current Government tourism agency, the Tourism Department of the Ministry for SMEs, Trade, Tourism and Liberal Professions, is referred to by its former name of National Tourism Authority (NTA). The term National Tourism Organisation (NTO) is used as a generic term for the institution responsible for the development and marketing of the country as a tourism destination. NTO is also used as a name for the proposed new format for the Ministry Tourism Department.


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� stimulate development; � foster the enhancement and preservation of cultural heritage; � assist the development and conservation of the physical and natural resources of

the overall country; and � distribute the benefits of tourism throughout all parts of Romania.

II Master Plan Development The Government of Romania appointed the United Nations World Tourism Organisation to prepare the Master Plan. UNWTO assembled a team of six international tourism consultants with specialities in Planning, Marketing, Investment, Statistics, Economics, Institutional Structures and Human Resource Development. Their work took place over a six month period between January and July 2007. This team was assisted by a team of some 20 Romanian specialists and they wish to express their gratitude for the information, insights and assistance they received from them. Apart from desk research extensive travel to most parts of the country was undertaken and consultations held with a numerous public and private sector interests in tourism. Although these contacts are too numerous to mention their inputs and views were invaluable. Action Plan and Implementation The weakness of previous tourism development strategies has been the failure to implement the recommendations. The availability of EU Structural Funds for the period up to 2013 provides a major resource to facilitate the recommendations of the Master Plan. However, the will to take the Plan forward remains essential. To this end the recommendations have been incorporated in an Action Plan with identified "lead" organisations responsible for implementation. Additionally Government has been requested to establish an Implementation Committee to monitor progress and assist in overcoming unforeseen obstacles. III Acknowledgements To list and acknowledge all the information sources, institutions and individuals, who have assisted UNWTO and its consultants in the compilation of this Master Plan would take almost as much space as the study itself. Although wishing to support the Romanian paper making industry we also feel we should preserve some more of Romania's beautiful forests. May it therefore suffice to say that the consultancy team advised by literally hundreds of individuals from all sectors of the tourism industry; it was assisted throughout by a partner team of Romanian experts and given excellent advice by an active and extremely helpful Steering Committee. Despite frequent changes in titles and personalities there was constant support from Government ministers and state secretaries. Above all the staff of the National Tourism Authority were unfailing in their help and assistance, well beyond the call of duty. Thanks to you all and to the people of Romania who welcomed us so warmly. We hope our work is beneficial and to return frequently to your beautiful country.


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A SITUATION ANALYSIS In this analysis of the current situation of tourism in Romania it is not felt necessary to enumerate in detail the impressive range of natural, geographic, environmental, heritage and ethnographic assets of the destination. These are well documented elsewhere. A pragmatic approach is taken concentrating on the key elements that contribute to tourism. In some areas there is excellent documentation. In others, particularly the profile of visitors, there is a lack of information. This review seeks to identify where tourism stands currently and to highlight where weaknesses need to be addressed and opportunities seized.

1 Volume and Value of Tourism to 2006 This is a summary of the volume and value of tourism from both domestic and international markets and is limited to the principal ‘headline’ figures. The detailed presentation of the seasonality patterns, distribution of demand by locality, accommodation type and occupancy level is to be found in Section 6 below. 1.1 International Tourism to Romania 1.1.1 Volume and Value of Arrivals Table 1.1 below shows the pattern of international visitor arrivals and associated foreign exchange earnings as presented by the Romanian National Institute of Statistics and the National Bank of Romania respectively for the period 2000 to 2006.

Table 1.1 International Volume and Value of Arrivals in Romania 2000 to 2006

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Arrivals ('000s) 5,264 4,938 4,794 5,595 6,600 5,839 6,037 Value (Million Euros) 359 362 335 396 406 852 1,034 Sources: Romanian National Institute of Statistics and National Bank of Romania

The impressive year on year growth in arrivals from 2002 was reversed in 2005 with a drop of 11.5%, which was largely due to an outbreak of bird flu and serious flooding in several parts of the country. However, it should be noted that the arrivals figures are known to include a significant number of day-trippers, particularly from neighbouring countries like Hungary and Moldova, and these types of visitors will have been especially affected by news of such events. Table 1.3 below demonstrates, however, that the 3.4% recovery in arrivals is due to continuing robust growth in international arrivals by air and, although arrivals by road continue to dominate, this position is shown to be weakening. The absolute value of foreign exchange earnings moves in line with the year on year changes in visitor arrivals, except for the position in 2005 where an anomalous picture of a doubling in foreign exchange earnings is achieved in the same year as the 11.5% drop in international arrivals. This may partly be explained by the fact that this measure of the value of tourism earnings, taken from the credit side of the tourism account in the Balance of Payments figures, is dependent upon the nature and practice of the data


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collecting methodology, which in fact was changed at the start of 2005. The data is also known to include the exchange of foreign currency brought back into Romania by those increased numbers of nationals enabled to work outside Romania following a relaxation in visa requirements for working in the EU, which took place in 2004. At present, the Romanian National Institute of Statistics does not collect data upon visitor expenditure patterns in Romania. Until such surveys are introduced, the contribution of international arrivals to national foreign exchange earnings will depend upon the Balance of Payments data and will therefore represent an imprecise measure of this important indicator of the value of tourism to the national economy. In Section 1.4 below, however, estimates of the value of international and domestic tourism to the Romanian economy are presented based upon analysis of the limited unofficial survey data, the National Household Survey and other research. 1.1.2 Arrivals by Nationality Table 1.2 below shows the international arrivals figures for 2006 by nationality of visitor for the top ten generating markets in that year. Since 2001, Hungary has provided the largest number of visitors followed by the Republic of Moldova, but in 2006 this ranking was reversed. In a similar change of positions, the third and fourth placed nations, Ukraine and Bulgaria also exchanged places. Germany, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, and the United States have always been represented in the top ten visitor source markets, while in 2006 Austria replaced Poland in this grouping. The locations associated with bird flu and flooding together with the negative perceptions created by these events will have been responsible for most of the changes in the relative positioning of these generating markets.

Table 1.2: International Arrivals by Top Ten Generating Markets in 2006

Country of Origin Number of Arrivals (000’s) Republic of Moldova 1,489 Hungary 1,366 Ukraine 433 Bulgaria 399 Germany 342 Italy 278 Turkey 219 Serbia 166 Austria 151 United States 164

Source: Romanian National Institute of Statistics

Accession to EU membership involves the elimination of border controls between most EU member states, and in the case of Romania this has particular significance because it has a common land border with Hungary and Bulgaria, two EU states which deliver almost one third of total visitor arrivals between them. Road, rail, river and airport based border/immigration controls between Romania and fellow EU member countries are now in transition and shortly to be completely removed. This will result in the loss of a fundamental mechanism for the collection of visitor arrival/departure data. A replacement approach has yet to be determined.


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It is clear that there is an urgent need to find a practical and manageable survey based solution to this issue of loss of traditional data gathering. This situation must also be seen as an opportunity to resolve other existing inadequacies in data collection, such as the lack of information on visitor expenditure patterns, purpose of visit and locations visited. 1.1.3 Arrivals by Means of Transport Used Road transport dominates the means of transport used by international arrivals to visit Romania as presented in Table 1.3 below, which shows that 72% of arrivals came by road in 2000 rising to 75% of arrivals in 2006.

Table 1.3: International Arrivals by Means of Transport 2000 to 2006 (000’s)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Road 3,808 3,622 3,594 4,343 5,401 4,428 4,390 Rail 660 476 374 348 308 305 316 Air 655 705 689 752 705 919 1,122 River 141 135 137 152 186 187 209 TOTAL 5,264 4,938 4,794 5,595 6,600 5,839 6,037 Source: Romanian National Institute of Statistics

This pattern is consistent with the domination of visitor arrivals by nationals from the neighbouring countries of Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine and Bulgaria, which between them accounted for over 60% of international arrivals in 2006. Although the use of road transport has grown slowly since 2000 the most significant change in transport means used has been the 71% growth in arrivals by air in the same period, and the near 55% decline in the use of rail transport. More significant, however, is the continuing strength of international arrivals by air in 2005 despite the health and environmental problems (arrivals were up 30% over 2004). The continuation of this growth (22% in 2006 over 2005) effectively lead the recovery in overall international arrivals for that year. It should be noted that the visitor arrivals covered by the river transport category in Table 1.3 above also include passenger arrivals on ocean going cruise vessels at the Port of Constanta. Figures from the Port Authority of Constanta indicate that this type of traffic has been growing strongly in recent years, recording some 3,000 arrivals in 2003 rising to almost 47,000 in 2006 which, conversely, would suggest that international arrivals by river borne vessels have remained essentially the same since 2000. 1.2 Domestic Tourism in Romania 1.2.1 Volume and Value of Arrivals The figures in Table 1.4 below provide a measure of the volume of domestic Romanian tourism in Romania and demonstrate the overwhelming dominance of holiday taking as the main motivating factor. The figures are recorded in the annual Romanian Household Survey, which is undertaken for the Romanian National Institute of Statistics. This Survey is based upon a sample of Romanian households and is then extrapolated to


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provide a picture at a national level of the behaviour of the population with respect to a range of consumption patterns and activities. The numbers therefore do not represent absolute figures for the volume of domestic tourists, trips and overnight stays but represent estimates based upon the design and structure of the survey questionnaire, the sampling techniques adopted and the extrapolation approach used. The figures are particularly interesting in that they provide indicative statistical support for the widely reported weakening of interest in domestic holiday taking in favour of holidays outside Romania during 2006. Total domestic tourist trips (including business trips) and overnight stays declined by 25% and 26% respectively, while trips and overnights for holiday purposes dropped by 23% in each case.

Table 1.4: Domestic Tourists, Trips and Overnights 2005 and 2006 (000’s) 2005 2006 Tourists Trips Overnights Tourists Trips Overnights Holiday 6,469 8,357 38,667 5,333 6,440 29,848 Business 218 379 940 161 248 769 Other 638 691 7,844 442 407 4,280 TOTAL 7,325 9,427 47,451 5,936 7,095 34,897 Source: Romania National Institute of Statistics / National Household Survey

The National Household Survey was begun in 2003 and is something of a pioneer in terms of the detailed inquiry that it makes upon the profile of the consumer and his behaviour. Such a survey is evolutionary in approach both in terms of the questions it asks but also in the representative nature of the population from which it draws its survey sample. Sample structure and survey responses, however, are regarded by the Romanian National Institute of Statistics as not wholly reliable as yet, and are likely to take some years of operational practice, refinement and familiarity for this to be realised. Table 1.5 below, which is also taken from the National Household Survey, shows the distribution of domestic overnight stays for both holiday and business purposes, across the various tourist zones. These figures correspond exactly with the overnight stay data in Table 1.4 but exclude the ‘Other’ category and demonstrate the relative importance of both the coast and the mountains (and Bucharest) for attracting domestic holiday and business overnight stays. The notable drop in domestic overnights shown in Table 1.4 above is further reinforced by the data in Table 1.5 which demonstrates the decline in overnights by tourist zone. Although in absolute terms the ‘Other Areas’ zone has lost the largest number of overnights (5.2 million), the very breadth and diversity of this category (it includes most major cities in Romania including Constanta) makes comment difficult other than to suggest that many visits to stay with friends and relatives were curtailed in favour of more time spent at home or outside Romania. However, the next most significant zone to lose tourist overnight stays was the ‘Coast’, with a drop of some 2 million overnights, a decline of 26%, which reflects the reported shift in market appeal away from the Romanian Black Sea towards competitor destinations like Bulgaria.


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Table 1.5: Domestic Tourist Overnights by Tourist Zone, 2005 and 2006 (000’s)

TOURIST ZONE 2005 2006 Coast 7,438 5,492 Mountains 8,106 6,398 Spas 1,101 1,251 Danube Delta 256 199 Tourist Circuits 546 361 Other Areas (incl. Bucharest) 22,160 16,917 TOTAL 39,607 30,618 Source: Romania National Institute of Statistics / National Household Survey

Data presented in Section 6 below characterising the scale, geographic distribution, type and quality of accommodation chosen by domestic visitors is based upon the collection of statistics provided directly by the owners of the various registered accommodation businesses and is thus a more accurate representation of visitors staying overnight in registered accommodation than the data in Tables 1.4. and 1.5. However, data based upon registered accommodation under-represents the overall number of trips and overnight stays taken, since many trips and overnights involve staying in the homes of friends and relatives, whose accommodation is in general outside the registration system. Arguably therefore the National Household Survey (subject to its shortcomings) presents a rounder, if less detailed, picture of national visitor flows. The National Household Survey does include questions about expenditure, including upon holiday and leisure activities, but these figures remain unpublished by the Romanian National Institute of Statistics until better sampling and respondent completion allow for more rigorous and reliable reporting. 1.3 Romania Compared to Other Destinations Table 1.6 below presents a comparison between Romania and a selected number of regional nations on the basis of international tourist arrivals and international tourist receipts for 2004 and 2005.

Table 1.6: Selected Comparative Destination Performance in 2004 and 2005

International Tourist Arrivals (000’s)

International Tourist Receipts ($US million)

2004 2005 2004 2005 Bulgaria 4,630 4,837 2,221 2,401 Croatia 7,912 8,467 6,848 7,463 Czech Rep 6,061 6,336 4,172 4,631 Hungary 12,212 10,048 4,061 4,271 Ukraine 15,629 n/a 2,560 3,125 ROMANIA 6,600 5,839 503 1,060 Source: United Nations World Tourism Organisation/National Bank of Romania

It is clear from this limited comparison that Romania’s performance as measured by these two significant indicators is generally weaker than its neighbours, but particularly weak in terms of its capacity to generate foreign exchange earnings. Bulgaria, for example, attracted some 20% fewer arrivals than Romania in 2005 but was still able to generate nearly three times the foreign exchange earnings from this smaller number of


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visitors, and the Czech Republic with only 8% more visitors can earn five times as much as Romania in foreign exchange receipts. It is likely that there are certain methodological differences in the data collection procedures (including the recording by Romania of day-trippers in their arrival figures) which will account for some of this disparity in earnings between Romania and these selected nations. But even allowing for this factor, the Romanian performance would still be considered relatively weak. The dramatic doubling of Romanian earnings in 2005 over 2004 is in fact due in part to just such a revision in data collection methodology and suggests a historic under-recording of such earnings. Table 1.7 below presents a further comparison of Romania with the same selected regional nations as above but this time in terms of the relative contribution which tourism expenditure makes to national GDP, between 2000 and 2004.

Table 1.7: Selected Comparative International Tourism Expenditure as a % of National GDP, 2000-2004

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Bulgaria 10.8 9.0 9.4 10.6 11.3 Croatia 15.6 17.4 17.3 22.8 21.0 Czech Rep - - 4.6 4.5 4.6 Hungary 8.2 8.1 5.8 5.0 4.1 Ukraine 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.4 2.3 ROMANIA 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 Source: United Nations World Tourism Organisation/International Monetary Fund

Once again the comparative performance of Romania is the weakest of the selected regional nations and although amended data collection techniques will undoubtedly improve the percentage contribution of tourism expenditure to national GDP (the figure for 2005 has grown to 1.1% as shown in Table 1.11 below), the value of tourism as recorded by this indicator is poor, even when compared directly with Ukraine, the next weakest member of the nations in the group. A further independent international comparator of national performance in tourism comes from the research work published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in their Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007. Table 1.8 below presents their overall national rankings for the selected group of nations identified in the earlier tables, while Table 1.9 examines these comparisons in greater detail using three principal indicators - the regulatory framework, the business environment and the available human, cultural and natural resources, developed from WEF’s own detailed assessment methodology.

Table 1.8: Overall Competitiveness Ranking for Selected Countries

Selected Country Ranking Bulgaria 54 Croatia 38 Czech Republic 35 Hungary 40 Romania 76 Ukraine 78


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Source: World Economic Forum 2007

This ranking system covers 124 nations and places each one in overall comparison with each other as far as travel and tourism competitiveness is concerned. That is, each nation is accorded a ranking position between 1 and 124 depending upon how it measures up to the criteria established by the WEF methodology. Thus Romania is ranked number 76 out of 124, just above Ukraine but lagging behind Bulgaria and the other selected countries. Table 1.9: Comparative Travel and Tourism Competitiveness by Principal Indicator for

Selected Countries

Selected Country Regulatory Framework

Business Environment and Infrastructure

Human, Cultural and Natural Resources

Bulgaria 66 56 41 Croatia 58 40 11 Czech Republic 40 37 22 Hungary 26 51 51 Romania 87 74 71 Ukraine 76 73 89

Source: World Economic Forum 2007

This selected comparison demonstrates Romania’s comparatively poor competitive performance against these neighbouring countries, ranking lowest under the regulatory framework and business environment categories and second lowest under the human/cultural/natural resources category. Factors responsible for the poor performance under the regulatory framework category are considered to be associated with Government regulation, especially in the environmental area and with health and safety measures, although it is likely that the recent outbreak of bird flu has had particular influence here. Within the business environment/infrastructure category, relative weaknesses in both air and ground transportation infrastructure are considered to be responsible for the lack of competitiveness, while weaknesses associated with human resources and the public perception of the importance and value of tourism as indicated by the political world and statistics, are considered responsible in the human/cultural/natural resources category. 1.4 Estimated Value of International and Domestic Tourism in 2005 Tables 1.11 and 1.12 below present estimates of the gross value of international and domestic tourism expenditure, in millions of Euros, and their respective contribution to the GDP of the Romanian economy in 2005. The bases and assumptions behind these figures may be found in the Economic Impact Section presented later in this report but very broadly they have been drawn from an analysis and interpretation of limited data taken from two USAID tourism surveys and the annual National Household Survey. The market types are distinguished by being either international or domestic but are also described by the type of accommodation used (registered or unregistered) since the official National Institute of Statistics only records visitors staying in registered accommodation, while the National Household Survey covers domestic visitors staying in all types of accommodation including registered, unregistered, friends, relatives and


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own second home accommodation. Romanian nationals’ overnight stays outside of Romania are excluded from this analysis and thus by deducting the total of domestic overnight stays in registered accommodation from the National Household Survey total domestic overnight stays, the resulting balance is considered to represent stays in unregistered accommodation. The expenditure, in Table 1.11, while split between international and domestic markets (and split within the domestic market), is in each case considered to be ‘total’ expenditure, that is it is a composite figure which includes spending upon accommodation, meals, transport within Romania, entertainment and shopping and souvenir purchases etc.

Table 1.11: Estimated Value of International and Domestic Tourism Expenditure in 2005, in Millions of Euros

Expenditure by Market Type 2005 (Euros million)

International Visitors in Registered Accommodation

877

Domestic Visitors in Registered Accommodation

820

Domestic Visitors in Unregistered/VFR Accommodation

1,058

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2,755 Source: USAID Reports, National Household Survey and Consultant’s Estimates

Table 1.12 below presents the expenditure shown in Table 1.11 above in terms of its numerical and percentage contribution to Romanian GDP. The figure for Romanian GDP, in billions of Euros, has been taken from official National Bank of Romania statistics. Table 1.12: Estimated Contribution of International and Domestic Tourism Expenditure to

Romanian National GDP in 2005, in billions of Euros and Percent of GDP

International Expenditure

Domestic Expenditure

Total Expenditure

Tourism Expenditure 0.877 1.878 2.755 Romanian GDP 79.3 79.3 79.3 Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP

1.1

2.4

3.5

Source: National Bank of Romania and Consultant’s Estimates

International visitor expenditure is thus seen to contribute some 1.1% to national GDP with domestic expenditure delivering more than twice this figure at 2.4%, while together they represent a much more significant 3.5% contribution. 1.5 Estimated Accommodation Capacity and Employment in 2005 Table 1.13 below presents a summary of the estimated rooms capacity and employment in the registered accommodation sector in 2005. Greater detail upon the size, type, distribution and occupancy of the supply of accommodation may be found at Section 6 below while a more detailed analysis of


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employment and human resources issues within the accommodation and tourism sector is presented in the chapter dedicated to this aspect. Reliable statistical data upon employment within the tourism sector are very largely limited to the official figures presented here, since provision of various data from registered accommodation businesses is required by the registration system and thus readily collected. However, data collection in other areas of the tourism sector are either difficult to separate into tourism related and routine domestic related (for example in the case of restaurants); are poorly collected and presented and thus difficult to interpret (for example in the case of tourism guides); or are irrelevant to our analysis as in the case of the employment figures for those working in travel agencies. In view of the estimated size of tourism expenditure associated with the unregistered accommodation sector presented in Table 1.11 above, it is clear that considerable additional employment in the sector must exist which is not represented by the official statistics. It is considered that this additional employment could amount to in excess of a further 20,000 jobs. Table 1.13: Estimated Registered Accommodation Capacity and Employment in Romania

during 2005

Accommodation Type

Number of Establishments

Number of Rooms

Assumed Staff to Rooms Ratio

Number of Staff

Hotels/Motels 1,060 74,050 0.9 66,645 Guesthouses 2,916 15,065 1.0 15,065 Self Catering

villas, bungalows

894

9,600

0.6

5,760 Others 205 4,205 0.8 3,364 Total 5,075 102,920 0.9 90,834

Source: Romanian National Institute of Statistics and Consultant’s Estimates


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2 Tourist Attractions and Utilisation 2.1 Natural Attractions 2.1.1 National Parks and Nature Reserves There are three main categories of protected areas in Romania:

• The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve • 13 National Parks • 13 Nature Reserves

Their combined area is 1,652,403 hectares - about 7% of the Romanian territory. The Danube Delta has its own Biosphere Reservation Administration. All national parks are administered by the National Forest Administration (Romsilva) except Ceahlau, which is administered by Neamt County Council. Romsilva also administers all but three of the Nature Reserves. The protected areas feature a diversity of flora and fauna, many of which are unique and endangered. While protection and conservation are the prime objectives of the administrators the protected areas are a major resource for tourism. This can range from hunting and mountaineering to walking and winter sports. There is considerable capacity for growth in visitor numbers in designated parts of the protected areas. The amount and type of accommodation in protected areas varies considerably. In most cases there is plentiful accommodation in close proximity to the protected areas.

Table 2.1: Protected Areas – Size and Accommodation

Hectares Accommodation Units in Protected

Areas

Accommodation units in locality

Biosphere Reservation

Danube Delta 580.000 106

National Parks

Rodna mountains 46.399 1 58

Călimani 24.041 1 50

Bicaz gorges - Hăşmaş 6.575 5 1

Piatra Craiului 14.800 10 52

Cozia 17.100 3 32

Buila - VânturariŃa 4.186 0 50

Jiului canyon 11.127 2 0

Retezat 38.138 5 12

Domogled - Cerna valley 60.100 39 3

Semenic - Caraşului Gorges 36.665 3 13

Nera gorges - BeuşniŃa 37.100 1 8

Măcinului mountains 11.321 0 1

Ceahlău 8.396 0 64


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Hectares Accommodation Units in Protected

Areas

Accommodation units in locality

Total National Parks 315,948

Nature Reserves

Maramureş mountains 148.850 39 27

Vânători NeamŃ 30.818 2 50

Putna - Vrancea 38.204 37 0

Bucegi 32.663 17 225

Grădiştea Muncelului - Cioclovina 38.184 5 3

Portile de Fier 115.655 18 15

Lunca Mureşului 17.166 2 3

Apuseni 75.784 150 600

Balt Mica a Brăila 17.529 1 0

Comana 24.963 1 1

Lunca Joasa Lower Prut 8.247 0 45

Tara HaŃegului Dinosaur Geopark 102.392 27 15

Geopark MehedinŃi plateau 106.000 6 12

Total Nature Reserves 756,455 Source: Romsilva (Regia Nationala de Padruilor) and NTA

There are few visitor centres provided in protected areas. Visitor numbers can only be estimated. Romsilva advises that there are no visitor capacity problems in the areas under their administration and plenty of room for controlled increases without endangering the environment.

Table 2.2: Protected Areas – Visitor Centres and Estimated Visits

Estimate of Visitors

Visitor Centres

Information Points

Biosphere Reservation

Danube Delta *66,740 4 n/a

National Parks

Rodna mountains 10.000 0 3

Călimani 1.000 0 0

Bicaz gorges - Hăşmaş 30.000 0 1

Piatra Craiului 80.000 1 0

Cozia 100.000 0 1

Buila - VânturariŃa 1.000 0 0

Jiului canyon 1.000 0 0

Retezat 12.000 2 2

Domogled - Cerna valley 12.000 1 1

Semenic - Caraşului Gorges 13.000 0 1

Nera gorges - BeuşniŃa 7.000 0 0

Măcinului mountains 3.000 0 0

Ceahlău 30,000 1 2


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Estimate of Visitors

Visitor Centres

Information Points

Total National Parks 300.000 5 11

Nature Reserves

Maramureş mountains 6.000 1 1

Vânători NeamŃ 200.000 1 1

Putna - Vrancea 24.000 0 0

Bucegi 1.000.000 0 3

Grădiştea Muncelului - Cioclovina 6.000 0 0

Portile de Fier 10.000 0 5

Lunca Mureşului 2.500 1 2

Apuseni 300.000 5 4

Balt Mica a Brăila 1.000 0 0

Comana 5.000 0 1

Lunca Joasa Lower Prut 300 0 1

Tara HaŃegului Dinosaur Geopark 8,000 1 0

Geopark MehedinŃi plateau 5.000 0 0

Total Nature Reserves 1.567.800 9 18 Source: Romsilva (Regia Nationala de Padruilor) and NTA * 24,340 package tourists of which 27% from abroad plus 42,400 independent staying tourists per DDBRA warden estimates. Provision is made for a wide range of activities within protected areas, either by the administrators or by commercial operators. These are indicated below as well as the potential for additional activities identified by protected area authorities.

Table 2.3: Current and Proposed Activities and Attractions Offered in National Parks and Reserves

Park name X = existing P = proposed

Mountaineering

Cycling

Speleology

Hiking Trails

Fishing

Water sports

Skiing

Cross country skiing

Scientific

Mountain Biking

Cultural attractions

Bird watching

Mammal watching

Horse riding

Delta dunarii X X X X X X X X X

National Parks

Rodna mountains X P X X X P P P

Călimani X X P P X X X

Bicaz gorges - Hăşmaş X X X P X X X X X

Piatra Craiului X X X P X X P X X X

Cozia X P X X P X P P

Buila - VânturariŃa X P X X X X P P

Jiului canyon X P P X X P X P

Retezat X X X X X X X P P P

Domogled - Cerna valley P P X P P P P P


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Semenic - Caraşului Gorges P P X X P X P P X P P P

Nera gorges - BeuşniŃa X X P X

Măcinului mountains X X P X X P

Ceahlău X X

Natural Reserves

MunŃii maramureşului P P P P P P P X P P

Vânători neamŃ P X X X X X P

Putna - vrancea X X P X P X X X X X

Bucegi X P X X X P X P P X P P P

Grădiştea muncelului - cioclovina X X X X X P X P P

PorŃile de fier X X X X P P P X P P P

Lunca mureşului X X X X X X X X

Apuseni X X X X P X X P X X

Balta mică a brăilei P X P P P P

Comana P X X P X X X X P

Lunca Joasa Lower Prut P X P X X X P P

Tara HaŃegului Dinosaur Geopark X X

Geopark MehedinŃi plateau X X X X P P X P X P P P Source: Romsilva (Regia Nationala de Padruilor) and NTA

Full tourism development strategies have only been developed for Retezat and Piatra Craiului National Parks. The DDBRA has its own development strategy. 2.1.2 Caves As visitor attractions caves offer a variety to the visitor experience, which can otherwise be dominated by historic buildings and museums. There are over 12,500 caves in the country. 14 of these have been adapted for visitor access and most have electricity installed. There are a further 50-100 caves that could be developed for easy visitor access. Visitor numbers to the caves currently attracting tourists are unreliable, but at a conservative estimate 300,000 visits are made to the 14 main caves each year. In several of these access is limited and the open areas have suffered from frequent visitation and damage thus providing a poor visitor experience. Visitor numbers appear to be increasing. The most popular caves – Urşilor in Bihor and Dâmbovicioara in Argeş – receive between 50-70,000 visitors a year each with numbers increasing. It should be noted, however, that, while in a scenic location and easily accessible, the Dambovicioara Cave is small and has few points of interest. There is no current constraint on handling more visitors in these caves. Apart from Urşilor facilities in most caves are rudimentary.

Table 2.4: Caves Adapted for General Tourist Visits

County Cave Location Lighting

Alba Peştera Vârtop Arieşeni √

Alba GheŃarul Scărişoara Gârda de Sus √

Alba Poarta lui Ionele* Gârda de Sus √


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Argeş Peştera Dambovicioara Dâmbovicioara √

Bihor Peştera Urşilor Chişcău √

Bihor Peştera Meziad Meziad, Remetea commune √

Bihor Peştera Ungurului Şuncuiuş √

Bihor Peştera Vântului Şuncuiuş √

Bihor Peştera Vadu Crişului Vadu Crişului √

Caraş Severin Peştera Comarnic Iablacea, Caraşova commune X

DâmboviŃa Peştera IalomiŃa Moroeni √

Gorj Peştera Muierilor Baia de Fier √

Gorj Peştera Polovragi Polovragi √

Vâlcea Peştera Liliecilor BistriŃa Monastery, Costeşti √ Source: Institutul National de Speologie "Emil Racovita" and 'Proiect de valorificare prin turism a reliefului carstic din românia – INCDT 2003'. Ghidul Pesterilor din Romania – Cristian Lascu. * Access difficult

Figure 2.1: Location of Main 'Show Caves' in Romania

For speleology enthusiasts and experienced speleologists there are several tour operators offering caving holidays. The Romanian Federation of Speleology and its members are active in assisting speleologists visit other caves. 2.2 Cultural Heritage 2.2.1 Historic Monuments Romania has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some of these are unusual in that they are groups of attractions within an area rather than a single site. In all 30 sites have World Heritage Site status as well as the Danube Delta biodiversity area:


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� Danube Delta (designated in 1991) � Churches of Moldavia (1993) – 7 sites � Monastery of Horezu (1993) � Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (1993, 1999) – 7 sites � Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains (1999) – 6 sites � Historic Centre of Sighişoara (1999) � Wooden Churches of Maramureş (1999) – 8 sites

Figure 2.2: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The variety and spread of these major sites is of great benefit in encouraging the dispersal of visitors throughout the country and especially to rural areas. Their UNESCO branding is beneficial in heightening awareness of the high quality of many of Romania's historic monuments. The Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs lists nearly 30,000 historical monuments, of which 6,614 are designated as being of national and international importance. These include archaeological sites, historic and architecturally important buildings including both religious and domestic structures, monuments and statues. There are 288 buildings listed as being birthplaces or homes of celebrities. These range from Peles Castle to the humbler homes of less well known academics and men of letters.


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Commemorative plaques are a feature of many noteworthy buildings. The counties with the highest concentration of historic monuments are – Arges, Mures, Sibiu, Cluj, Brasov, Prahova, Covasna, Dambovita, Bucarest, Constanta and Hunedoara. This indicates that the central regions and Black Sea coast are the most important from a cultural heritage perspective. 2.2.2 Museums and Galleries Museums form a significant part of the attractions that tourists visit. In 2005 there were 675 museums officially listed attracting a total of 10,488,000 visits. This is an increase of 29% in museums since 2000 and an increase of 19% in visits to museums over the same period. No data is available on the share of museum visits made by tourists as compared to local residents.

Table 2.5: Museums in Romania by Category and Visitors 1999-2005

Museum 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Natural sciences 36 36 37 40 36 37 44 Technical and scientific 11 10 15 15 16 15 21 History 92 96 93 90 99 100 112 Ethnography 58 63 61 68 72 74 115 Cultural history 108 121 113 130 131 128 159 Art 119 113 118 121 126 134 148 Mixed 91 80 87 84 71 69 76

Units - total 515 519 524 548 551 557 675

Visitors ('000) 8.818 9.594 10.550 11.114 10.108 10.446 10.488

% increase 8,8 10,0 5,3 -9,1 3,3 0,4 Source: National Institute for Statistics

The Institutul de Memorie Culturala cIMeC (Institute of Cultural Heritage) identified 740 public museums and public collections in 2006. There are 28 museums officially identified as of national importance, a further 14 of regional importance and 41 of importance at county level. Half of the National museums are located in the capital. Most museums are open over the weekend and closed on Mondays. Some also close on Tuesdays. Admission fees vary considerably, but are generally below RON 10. There are extra charges for the services of a guide. Charges for photography, where permitted, are generally high by Western European standards. Additionally there are some 220 licensed art galleries. While featuring fascinating collections and artefacts, with few exceptions, the majority of the museums have old fashioned displays and interpretation techniques. They mostly do not feature modern display and presentation techniques designed to entertain and


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enthrall visitors at the same time as educating them. This makes them less attractive and inspiring to tourists. There are very few museums with good retail outlets. With one or two exceptions there are no museums with cafés or restaurants. The National Network of Museums in Romania (RNMR) was established in 2006 and seeks to improve all aspects of museum operations. It has 42 members currently. It is working with the Matra Project to assist directors of member museums develop development strategies for each museum. 2.2.3 Religious Heritage Since 1990 and the ending of restrictions on religious observance there has not only been an increase in religious practice but significant investment in the restoration of historic religious buildings and institutions. Many of the ancient monasteries are once more active, living places, rather than lifeless examples of decaying architecture. The wealth and uniqueness of Romania's religious buildings has been recognised by UNESCO's designation of 7 churches in Moldavia, 7 fortified churches in Transylvania, 8 of the wooden churches in Maramures and Horezu Monastery as World Heritage sites. Of about 12,800 Orthodox religious buildings in the country, including over 380 monasteries, some 2,400 have been identified as being of historical or architectural significance. There are additionally many interesting buildings belonging to other sects as well as mosques and synagogues. Much restoration work still needs to be undertaken, but this is in itself a point of interest for visitors. Visitor numbers to religious buildings for sightseeing purposes are not known, but are significant. During peak periods, such as the summer months, visits to popular sites such as UNESCO World Heritage buildings, cause congestion, which needs careful management. Modest admission charges are levied at many monasteries and some churches. Photography charges, where levied, tend to be high. Quite apart from visits for pilgrimage or purposes of worship the majority of tourist visits to attractions are to religious buildings. They form the backbone of the country's visitor attractions. 2.3 Performing Arts In 2005 there were 146 performing arts venues in Romania including theatres, puppet theatres, symphony concert halls, opera houses and folk music and dance venues.


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Table 2.6: Performing Arts Venues 1999-2005

Performing Arts Venues 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Drama theatres 53 54 57 59 57 57 59

Puppet theatres 25 26 26 26 25 24 24

Opera houses 8 8 7 7 7 7 7

Musical comedy and variety theatres 10 10 9 9 9 8 7 Philharmonics and symphonic orchestras

18 18 18 18 18 17 18

Folk music bands 9 8 8 8 8 7 6

Song and dance ensembles 22 22 24 24 22 24 24

Circus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Units - total 146 147 150 152 147 145 146 Source: National Institute for Statistics

There were some 17,350 performances in 2005. There have been annual fluctuations in performance numbers, but an overall increase of 7% since 2000.

Table 2.7: Artistic Performances 1999-2005

Performances/Concerts 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Drama theatres 5,968 5,957 6,783 6,915 6,537 7320 7,206

Puppet theatres 4,295 4,087 4,588 4,811 4,460 4,634 4,171

Opera houses 973 876 733 723 816 892 833 Musical comedy and variety theatres

930 826 942 893 1,071 887 748

Philharmonics and symphonic orchestras

1,377 1,592 1,355 1,309 1,262 1,351 1,601

Folk music bands 435 411 466 412 433 433 285

Song and dance ensembles 2,133 2,302 2,259 2,528 2,328 2,251 1,923

Circus 253 191 230 230 92 139 581

Total 16,364 16,242 17,356 17,821 16,999 17,907 17,348 Source: National Institute for Statistics

Audiences totaling 4.2 million attended performing arts events in 2005. This is a reduction of 26% since 2000. The numbers of tourists among the audiences is not known. Given that there has been no change in the number of venues and an increase in performances this would suggest significant capacity to accommodate additional tourist audiences.

Table 2.8: Attendance at Arts Performances 1999-2005

Audiences 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Drama theatres 1,017 1,067 1,306 1,213 1,188 1,249 1,121

Puppet theatres 534 470 525 511 556 572 536

Opera houses 318 165 169 200 260 331 319 Musical comedy and variety theatres

189 161 196 184 237 187 153


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Audiences 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Philharmonics and symphonic orchestras

271 544 334 313 259 281 301

Folk music bands 271 231 224 100 234 281 135

Song and dance ensembles 2,420 2,704 2,000 1,935 1,966 1,399 1,358

Circus 72 81 115 125 86 113 276

Audience - total ('000) 5,092 5,423 4,869 4,581 4,786 4,413 4,199 Source: National Institute for Statistics

The calibre of many performances, particularly musical, is of international standard. Admission prices and availability of seats are potentially attractive to foreign visitors for performances where language is not a barrier. Publicity for the performing arts is very much localised and tour operators and visitors are not specifically targeted. 2.4 Other Attractions 2.4.1 Salt Mines These industrial sites are tourism assets in two respects. Firstly they attract visitors to the area wishing to receive medical treatment in the special atmosphere within the mines. Secondly, they are appealing to visitors wishing to learn about salt mining, experience the work location and underground caverns. Both forms of tourism attract visitors to the area of the mines and generate demand for accommodation and other visitor services. Mine visits also extend the variety of visitor attractions within an area thereby enriching the visit options. There are seven operational salt mines in Romania. Five of these are open to visitors for medical treatment purposes and as tourist attractions. The National Salt Society, Salrom, is charged with the exploitation of the mines, both for salt extraction and as visitor attractions. It also operates a Museum of Salt in Bucharest.

Figure 2.3: Salt Mines Open to Visitors


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The mineral deposits in the mines are owned by the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) and any developments in the mines have to be jointly agreed by them and Salrom. The overall mining business, including visitors, makes a small profit, but reinvestment in visitor facilities is extremely limited. Currently there is little promotion of salt mine visits on a national basis. Numbers of day visits for treatment have increased by 35% in the last three years and are as follows:

Table 2.9: Romanian Salt Mines – Treatment Visits

Mine Visits for Treatment

2003 2004 2005 2006 % increase 2003-2006

Cacica 0 0 0 0

Targu Ocna 7.000 12.042

Ocna Dej 0 0 0 0

Praid 127.499 116.833 126.288 160.242 26 Slanic Prahova 12.073 12.471 12.160 16.539 37

Totals 139.572 129.304 145.448 188.823 35 Source: Salrom

Over the same period tourist visits have increased by 61% to over 300,000.

Table 2.10: Romanian Salt Mines – Tourist Visits

Mine Tourist Visits

2003 2004 2005 2006 % increase 2003-2006

Cacica 9.244 9.905 10.389 18.743 103

Targu Ocna 23.000 41.391

Ocna Dej 650 900 911 1.100 69

Praid 127.499 116.833 126.288 160.242 26 Slanic Prahova 52.793 62.721 80.249 84.864 61

Totals 190.186 190.359 240.837 306.340 61 Source: Salrom

Treatments normally comprise stays of four hours per day for 6-10 days thus generating use of accommodation locally and spare time for additional tourist activity locally. Admission prices vary between RON 12 for tourists and RON 7 for patients with reductions applied for multiple visits and children. 2.4.2 Narrow Gauge Railways There are three narrow gauge railways currently operating for tourists in Romania.


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In Maramures a logging train operates on a 735mm gauge track in the Vaserului Valley between Viseu de Sus and Faina, a distance of 32 kilometres one way. There are up to five tourist carriages on the train with a capacity of 150 passengers and the return journey takes all day. There is a daily service in summer (May-September). Group visits and charters can be arranged at other times. In Alba trains operate in the Valea Ariesului for groups on request on a 12 km stretch of track between Abrud and Campeni. At Moldovita in Suceava trains operate in summer and subject to prior booking on a 4km track. The capacity is 50 persons and diesel or steam locomotives are available.

Figure 2.4: Narrow Gauge Railways

There are a number of other redundant narrow gauge railway routes with track and other infrastructure still in existence, though not maintained. The most significant of these is the Sibiu-Agnita line, which has recently been designated a historic monument and where efforts are being made to restore the route and recommence operations subject to the resolution of land ownership issues. Although operating with high load factors the Viseu de Sus tourist train cannot operate at a commercially sustainable level without free use of maintained track and locomotive maintenance sponsored by enthusiasts. It is unlikely that other routes can operate successfully without similar benefits except on short distance routes. Apart from its own commercial activity, the Viseu de Sus railway benefits the region additionally by generating a significant number of bed nights in the area.


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2.4.3 Wine Tourism Romania is a significant wine producing country with an increasingly high reputation internationally and with increasing export sales. There are seven main wine producing regions in the country:

� The Transylvanian plateau � The Moldavian Hills � The Muntenian and Oltenian Hills � Banta Hills � Cressona and Maramures Hills � Dordogne Hills � Danube Terraces

Wine tourism normally consists of three main components:

� Visits by wine connoisseurs and buyers to specific vineyards with scientific and purchasing intent – business tourism

� Visits to vineyards by general interest visitors to learn of the wine making process and to taste wines. This is normally seen as a self-financing publicity activity by vineyards to encourage on-the-spot sales and customer loyalty in the longer term

� Wine routes – scenic routes through wine growing country linking individual vineyards

Romania has nine main vineyards offering tours and wine tastings on a regular basis for general interest visitors:

� Murfatlar, � Crama Urlateanu � Casa Seciu � Stefanesti � Minis � Jidvei � Panciu � Bucium � Recas

There are also wine museums at:

� Murfatlar � Dragasani � Stefanesti (Golesti-Arges) � Husi � Odobesti � Minis � Harlau

A Wine Route has been designated in Alba county. A number of tour operators offer specialist wine tours.


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Figure 2.5 : Wine Tourism


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3. Tourism Products 3.1 Coastal Tourism The Black Sea coastal resorts contain a high percentage of the accommodation in Romania. In 2005 29% of the country's registered hotels were on the coast and 45% of hotel bed spaces. However, these hotels were only operational for an average of 102 days. During this short season they achieved a 53% occupancy rate. Half of the country's Villas and Bungalows are also on the coast as well as the largest campsites. The operational season of non hotel accommodation is even shorter than that of hotels.

Table 3.1: Accommodation Units in Coastal Resorts 2005

Romania Coast % Average Days Open

Hotels 993 285 29 102

Motels 161 1 1 n/a

Youth hotels 23 3 13 72

Hostels 33 4 12 25

Tourist villas 716 296 41 39

Bungalows 305 207 68 41

Campsites 72 17 24 66

School camps 151 13 9 57

Urban guest houses 597 25 4 80

Rural guesthouses 956 14 1 55

House lets 52 26 50 18

Other 167 0 0 n/a

Total 4,226 891 21 85

Table 3.2: Bed Spaces in Coastal Resort Accommodation 2005

Romania Coast %

Hotels 164,102 74,222 45

Motels 6,186 42 1

Youth hotels 1,487 309 21

Hostels 987 230 23

Tourist villas 15,157 6,549 43

Bungalows 4,963 4,080 82

Campsites 26,568 18,097 68

School camps 28,916 9,348 32

Urban guest houses 10,910 667 6

Rural guesthouses 11,151 688 6

House lets 4,227 2,986 71

Other 8,540 0 0

Total 283,194 117,218 41


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Much of the accommodation is in highly concentrated areas in the main resorts of Mamaia, Eforie Nord and Sud, Costinesti, Olimp, Neptun, Jupiter, Aurora, Venus, Saturn and Mangalia. The design of these resorts still largely reflects the era of their expansion in the 1970s and 1980s. Once a favoured summer holiday area both for Romanians and Western Europeans, the coastal area has lost much of its Western European traffic as it has failed to re-develop and compete with other coastal destinations in the region. Romanian traffic has also declined as foreign destinations have become accessible and appealing to Romanians. There has been some refurbishment of individual properties on the coast, but little renovation and modernisation of resorts has taken place. Few improvements have been made which address the seasonality problem. There has been little diversification of resort attractions to meet the increasing demands and expectations of 21st century visitors. There has also been serious beach erosion over the last decade or so, thanks to industrial activity in the Navodari area and reduction in Danube outflows. This has reduced the natural replacement of sediment with the result that beaches are shrinking by as much as 2 metres a year. There are also more recent threats of algae invasions. 3.2 Health Spa Tourism The wealth of mineral springs, muds and gases with medicinal benefits in Romania is well documented. Romania has around a third of the natural mineral springs in Europe. There is a diversity of treatments on offer linked to these natural resources. There are 117 localities in Romania with therapeutic natural factors of which 29 are designated as spa resorts of National importance and 32 as resorts of Local importance. There are three main spa product offers:

� Medical healthcare – curing ailments � Convalescence – stimulating recovery � Wellness – stimulating fitness and wellbeing

Currently the emphasis is very much on the medical and convalescence elements, which creates an image of spa resorts as places for the sick and elderly. In 2005 there were 369 registered accommodation establishments in spa resorts, 8.7% of all accommodation units in the country. These offered 39,090 bedspaces – 13.8% of all registered bedspaces. Due to above average periods in operation these accommodation units offered 19.5% of available bed spaces and 5,303,980 bednights were sold. That was 29% of all bednights sold in Romania in 2005. Just under 3% of these bednights were sold to foreigners. Only 9% of bednights were in 3, 4 or 5 star properties. Average annual occupancy in available rooms was 53%.


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No data is available on the revenue generated by spa resorts from this occupancy. The vast majority of spa resort business comes from state sponsored health insurance clients. In 2005 276,342 18-day insurance treatment tickets were redeemed. This accounted for 88% of the identified bednights in spas. The urban infrastructure in many spa resorts is in a poor condition.

3.3 Activity Tourism 3.3.1 Winter Sports There are some 27 licensed ski areas in Romania with around 80 authorised ski slopes. There is a variety of ski lifts, gondolas, chair lifts, skid lifts and cable cars with a capacity of over 35,000 persons an hour serving these areas. The elevation of many ski areas is not sufficiently high to guarantee good natural snow for a 3-4 month winter sports season. Artificial snow is increasingly used, where water supply is sufficient. However, the warmth of recent winters has resulted in below average snowfalls and made even artificial snow production difficult in a number of areas. There is heavy demand at weekends during the winter when snow conditions are favourable. Many winter sports resorts have limited designated parking areas, which results in significant congestion. Improving access is likely to have a greater impact on the success of individual ski resorts rather than an increase in lift capacity. There is a relatively low level of foreign winter sports business. Resorts such as Poiana Brasov attract foreign groups for week long stays, which is beneficial in improving accommodation usage without significantly increasing traffic congestion. In terms of the winter sports product Romania does not have resorts that stand out internationally. Price – transport as well as accommodation - is the prime factor for foreign winter sports enthusiasts selecting Romania. Despite attracting summer holiday traffic and spring and autumn conference business, the average occupancy of mountain resort accommodation was only 22% in 2005. This suggests that, in general, there is currently sufficient bed capacity on offer. 3.3.2 Golf Golf was a prohibited sport under the communist regime and the Romanian Golf Federation was only formed in 2004 as the sport's governing body in Romania. Romania only has three golf courses, the Diplomatic Club in Bucharest and courses at Breaza and Pianu de Jos. All these courses are only of nine holes and only one, the Lac de Verde Club at Breaza in Prahova County, is recognised by the Royal and Ancient as a course. The Pianu de Jos course has plans to add a further nine holes.


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With only 3 half courses in the country Romania cannot at present be considered as a destination for golf tourism. Typically the golf tourist seeks a range of quality courses within reasonable proximity to each other combined with quality leisure, entertainment and accommodation. Three to four courses is generally considered to be a minimum to establish a location as a golf destination to which it is worth travelling for a week or more.

Figure 3.1: Golf Courses in Romania

3.3.3 Hiking Although not quantifiable in terms of numbers of hikers, hiking in the Carpathians is a popular pastime among Romanians and some foreign visitors. Mountain hiking trails are designated by local authorities and cleared and marked with the assistance of SALVAMONT. SALVAMONT also advises on the difficulty of trails and the equipment hikers require. NTA issues authorisation certificates for trails that meet safety and presentation standards. There are currently 301 mountain hiking trails authorised by the NTA. These vary in length from 1 to 20 hours hiking time.


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Local authorities are responsible for signage indicating the starting points of trails as well as their maintenance. In National Parks and Nature Reserves there are over 340 marked trails. Some of these still have to obtain NTA certification.

Table 3.3: Hiking Trails in National Parks and Nature Reserves

National Parks Marked trails Nature Reserves Marked trails

Danube Delta 7* Maramures Mountains 2

Rodnei Mountains 17 Vânători NeamŃ 9

Calimani 25 Putna Vrancea 7

Bicaz Gorges - Hăşmaş 18 Bucegi Nature Reserve 40

Piatra Craiului 31 Grădiştea Muncelului-Cioclovina 6

Cozia 10 PorŃile de Fier 15

Buila Vanturarita 5 Lunca Mureşului 2

Jiului Canyon 3 Apuseni 32

Retezat National Park 20 Balta Mică a Brăilei 9

Domogled - Cerna Valley 35 Comana 10

Semenic-Caraşului Gorges 9 Lunca Joasa Lower Prut 0

Nera Gorges BeuşniŃa 10 Tara HaŃegului Dinosaur Geopark 1

Măcinului Mountains 6 Geopark MehedinŃi plateau 13

Ceahlau 7 Source: Romsilva, Parks and Reserves * not formally marked

A number of tour operators and mountain guides promote hiking holidays. NTA produced a small quantity of a promotional directory of over 100 mountain hiking trails in 2004. There appears to have been little other generic publicity of Romania as a hiking destination. 3.3.4 Equestrianism There are various types of equestrian activity on offer in Romania.

• Riding schools • Stud farms • Riding trail and holiday operators

Riding schools cater essentially to local residents and provide leisure facilities. Stud farms may have visitor facilities, but are normally a visitor attraction rather than provider of activity holidays. The following are the main equestrian holiday operators:

Table 3.4: Equestrian Centres offering Riding Holidays

County Name Location

Bistrita-Nasaud Stefan cel Mare Equestrian Centre Lunca Ilvei

Brasov Equus Silvania Sinca Noua

Brasov Dutch Riding Centre Fagaras

Cluj Daksa Cluj-Napoca


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Cluj Green Mountain Holidays Huedin

Mures Corbet Transair Targu Mures

Mures Hipohouse Sighisoara

Sibiu English Riding Centre Sibiu

Suceava Caliman National Park Vatra Dornei Source: CNTE & NTA

All the above are in membership of the CNTE (Comitetul National de Turism Ecvestru).

Figure 3.2: Holiday Riding Centres

3.3.5 Hunting and Fishing in Romania In 2005 the total surface of the hunting areas was about 21,603,924 hectares. Of this area:

• 70,3% is administered by the General Association of Hunters and Anglers (AGVPS),

• 27,9% (6,033,104 ha.) by the National Forest Administration “Romsilva”, • 0,5% (112,066 ha.) by Educational and research institutes, and • 1,3% (278,105 ha.) by independent hunting associations.


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The biggest part of the hunting grounds is located in the lowland areas of the country - 9,067,519 ha. 8,045,882 ha. (37,2%) are in the hills and 4,490,523 ha. (20,8%) in the mountain areas. The main game species in Romania are : Chamois, Roe deer, Red deer, Rabbit, Wolf, Lynx, Wild boar, Wild cat, Bear, Fox, bird species (ducks and pheasants). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sets annual quotas for hunting of various species of game. Romsilva also determines the fees for trophies of various species. Some of the game species are strictly protected and hunting is allowed only with special approval. Romanians wishing to hunt have to undergo a training course and pass an examination in order to obtain a hunting permit, which is renewable annually. They also have to have a valid gun license. Foreign hunters may hunt in Romania provided they demonstrate their qualification and membership of a recognised hunting organisation. They require authority to hunt from the hunting reserve administrator directly or via the accredited hunting operator appointed by the administrator. Priority is given to Romanian hunters. In 2005 the number of foreign hunters was estimated to be around 8,000. Although Romania has no pretensions to be a major sports fishing destination of international standing the General Association of Hunters and Anglers (AGVPS) has identified 645 sports fishing locations in the country. The main game species are carp and trout. Fishing is particularly popular in the Danube Delta. Visitors require a license to fish in Romania. These can be obtained from AGVPS or Romsilva. Romsilva controls fishing in mountain streams and in the reserves it administers. AGVPS controls all other areas and also issues licenses on behalf of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority. In 2005 it is estimated there were about 1,000 foreign fishing visitors. 3.4 Rural Tourism In an ever increasingly urbanised society the appeal of the countryside and the rural way of life become ever more appealing. City dwellers seek their roots and the simple ways of the "good old days". These are some of the motivations that have spurred an increase in rural tourism both in Romania and in many other parts of the world. These tourists cover a wide spectrum of interests, from the ecotourist specifically interested in involvement in environmental protection and conservation; the agritourist interested in experiencing the farmer's lifestyle; the activity tourist enjoying the great outdoors; to the more generalised interests of the geotourist appreciating the scenic beauties, culture and traditions of the countryside. Recognition of the combined facts that tourist expenditure in rural areas has a significantly higher economic impact than in towns and that rural traditions, crafts and customs are in danger of disappearing has inspired many individuals and NGOs to


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invest time and money in rural tourism developments. Many of these are intensive and very localised, such as the ADEPT Foundation project in the Sighisoara-Tarnava Mare area. Some have a national perspective such as the work of ANTREC as a marketing organisation for rural accommodation. The appeal of the countryside has also attracted an increasing number of small activity and tour operators, who combine their own love of the rural lifestyle with a commercial activity that allows others to share in it. As a result of this activity there are many rural products and tourism opportunities available. There is, however, limited consistency of product offer and a general lack of collaborative publicity activity. Probably the most tangible indicator of the growth of interest in rural tourism is the expansion of guest house accommodation in recent years stimulated in part by the availability of SAPARD funds. In a four year period the number of registered rural guest house beds tripled.

Table 3.5: Expansion in Registered Rural Guest Houses 2001-2006 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 %

increase 2001-6

Rural Guest Houses Units 536 682 781 892 956 1,259 234

Beds 4,736 6,181 7510 9,405 11,151 14,391 303

Source: Institute of National Statistics

Data on occupancy in rural accommodation in general is not available, however, average occupancy levels in Mountain Accommodation are generally low at between 20 and 25%. Mountain accommodation, however, maintains a far longer operational period than, for example, seaside accommodation. There would seem to be plenty of rural accommodation available both in the registered sector and in the informal, unregistered, sector, which is understood to be particularly prevalent in rural areas. Rural tourism benefits from the fact that many of Romania's prime man-made and heritage attractions are in rural areas, such as painted monasteries, wooden churches, Saxon fortified churches and Dacian fortresses. The internationally established brands of Bucovina, Maramures, Danube Delta and Transylvania also equate with predominantly rural areas. The rural accommodation stock, activity operators and specialist agritourism and ecotourism suppliers are consequently well positioned to benefit from the identified increasing interest in rural tourism. 3.5 Danube Cruises Cruise traffic on the Danube has increased rapidly since the resumption of operations in 2003. In 2007 nearly 1,000 cruises are anticipated. Each ship has between 100 and 120 passengers. The cruise season runs from March until November. This operational season is agreed by the Die Donau Association, a collaborative organisation with representation from all operators and countries involved. NTA is the official representative for Romania at the die Donau Association. Cruises make up to four day excursions of varying duration while in Romanian waters. These are mostly organised by Romanian tour operators on behalf of the cruise


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company and are booked in advance. They vary from short visits to Drobeta Turnu Severin and inside the Danube Delta, to a full day visit to Bucharest from Giurgiu / Oltenita. The content of the excursions is at the cruise and ground operators' discretion. Cruise ship visitors are given a sample of Romania's attractions and are prime candidates for conversion into repeat visitors. 3.6 Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Romania's major conference and exhibition facilities are predominately located in the capital. The Romanian Convention Bureau maintains a database of conference and exhibition venues throughout the country. An analysis of this data and the number of conference rooms of various capacities indicates that even in the capital there are very few venues that can accommodate large meetings. he largest purpose-built venue has a capacity of about 650. For larger meetings theatres or public buildings have to be used. These have both availability and flexibility constraints. Few venues can hold meetings in their maximum capacity room and also offer full catering services for all delegates. Few have a range of smaller rooms to cater for break-out meetings alongside plenary sessions. Most of the large scale venues are also not very conveniently placed near accommodation. An analysis of the Romanian Convention Bureau's database of conference venues illustrates the relative lack of medium to large scale venues.

Table 3.6: Numbers of Conference Rooms by Capacity

Location Meeting Room Capacity

1-50 51-100 101-200 201-500 500+

Bucharest 82 51 37 24 14

Rest of Country 323 150 110 34 10

Total 405 201 147 58 24 Source: Romanian Convention Bureau

The Palace of Parliament situated in Bucharest, which also trades as the “International Conference Centre Bucharest”, is the largest quality meeting venue. Although not designed as a conference centre it has a number of meeting rooms, restaurants and galleries seating up to 1,200 theatre style and can provide catering for up to 2,000 persons. Confirmed availability of meeting rooms is only given at short notice and is a constraint in the selection of this venue for large meetings where venue decisions are made several years in advance. It is a member of the International Association of Palais de Congres (AIPC). Statistics are not available on the numbers and sizes of meetings being held. However, there has evidently been an upsurge in small meetings many for training and staff motivation purposes in recent years. These take place both in cities and rural locations. The international meetings market comprises three main segments – Corporate Meetings, Governmental Meetings and Association Meetings. The Association meetings segment is mobile and can be attracted to a variety of destinations. It is also considerable both in the numbers of meetings and delegate numbers and their relatively high spending power. Romania's performance in attracting this market segment is poor.


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In its analysis of international meetings organised by its members in 2005 the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) identified 5,315 international meetings held in nearly 100 countries. Of these 12 were held in Romania. This ranked Romania as 53rd among the host countries.

Table 3.7: International Association Meetings Hosted in Selected Countries 2000-2005

Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Rank Hungary 64 51 76 75 94 97 20 Romania 8 16 16 12 17 12 53 Serbia Montenegro 2 1 0 3 12 10 58 Bulgaria 2 3 12 5 11 6 67 World Total 4,500 4,468 4,981 5,014 5,497 5,315 - Source: ICCA International Association Meetings Market 1996-2005

The reasons for this weak performance are twofold. Firstly, Romania does not have many purpose-built meeting facilities that can match the requirements of the international meetings market – both association, governmental and corporate. Secondly, despite the valiant efforts of the Romanian Convention Bureau, there is a lack of consistent research and promotional activity to secure international meetings. The main exhibition centre, Romexpo, is located in Bucharest. It features 52,100 square metres of exhibition space in 36 halls. These exhibition halls are functional but not all inter-connected and many lack international standard facilities. Subject to planning permission a new 12,000 square metre hall connecting with several existing halls will be constructed in 2008. Romexpo organises the majority of the exhibitions held at its centre in conjunction with the relevant trade bodies. There are about 40 exhibitions a year. Approximately 20% of exhibitors are from abroad. Total numbers of visitors are not available. Romexpo also has eight meeting rooms seating from 50 to 300 delegates. These are not well linked and creative solutions are required to provide catering for large delegate meetings. There is demand for a 1000-1200 seat meeting facility for product launches and other commercial events. Constanta is currently developing a small exhibition facility in Mamaia combined with a 250 seat meeting room. This will cater principally for local and regional events. The Romanian Convention Bureau (RCB) seeks to market Romania as a destination for meetings and exhibitions and acts as a clearing house for meeting planners seeking appropriate venues. RCB is a member of the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA), but alone among all members in being a purely private sector convention bureau. Most convention bureaus are at least in part state or city funded, either by direct grant or from some form of bed levy. This reliance on private sector funding has restricted RCB's activities and overall effectiveness. As Romania develops more modern and larger meetings venues an expanded RCB will be necessary in order to market the destination effectively.


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4 Access and Transport 4.1 Strategic Network

Figure 4.1: European Transport Corridors

Source: EU

Romania lies astride several European transport corridors connecting southeast Europe to the north and west. These corridors form the strategic backbone to internal and external strategic terrestrial linkages in Romania and are the prime focus of trunk infrastructure investment, they are:

� Corridor VII, the Danube, linking the Black Sea to the North Sea � Corridor IV, a road and railway corridor connects Germany in the west to

southeast Europe. After passing through Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary the corridor develops into three branches terminating at Istanbul, Thessaloniki and Constanta respectively. The main road, E68, enters Romania at Nadlac and bifurcates at Arad. The southern branch, to Istanbul and Thessaloniki passes through Timisoara and Craiova to cross into Bulgaria at Calafat. The Constanta branch, the E81, passes through Sibiu, Pitesti, and Bucharest to Constanta. The rail element of the Constanta branch of Corridor IV takes a more northerly route than the road and runs through Brasov.

� Corridor IX, a road and rail corridor which connects Finland and Lithuania in the north to Greece in the south. This transport artery runs through Minsk, in


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Belarus, Moscow, Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria to Greece. In Romania the corridor runs though Albita on the Moldova border, Focsani, Buzau, Bucharest and enters Bulgaria at Giurgiu. The road route is designated as the E85. The rail component of Corridor IX follows the route of the road corridor, E85.

The transport infrastructure of Romania has over a long period of time suffered serious underinvestment. As a result the existing infrastructure is congested. As an example the volume of goods carried per kilometre of road is 1,390 tonnes in Romania while the EU average is 252 tonnes/km. A series of extensive programmes have been undertaken to upgrade transport infrastructure which is still below European standards. Over the past 15 years the nature of passenger transport trips in the country has undergone changes, as set out below in Table 4.1. since 1990 the economy has been liberalised and fare structures have increasingly been fixed by commercial pricing. As a result the total quantum of passenger trips fell dramatically from 1.19 billion in 1990 to 317 million in 2004.

Table 4.1: Romania Passenger Trips2 by Mode (000’s) 1995 – 2004

1990 1995 2000 2004 Rail 407,931 210,738 117,501 99,434 Road 780,666 413,502 205,979 216,524 Inland Waterway

1,637 2,042 133 214

Air 2,738 1,963 1,282 1,337 Total 1,192,972 628,245 324,895 317,509 Source: Romania Statistical Yearbook 2005

At the same time that passenger numbers were falling the modal split for passenger traffic has undergone changes, as set out below in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Romania Passenger Trips3 Modal Split (%)

1990 1995 2000 2004 Rail 34.19 33.54 36.19 31.32 Road 65.44 65.82 63.41 68.25 Inland Waterway

0.14 0.32 0.01 0.01

Air 0.23 0.32 0.39 0.42 Total 100 100 100 100 Source: Consultant

Through the period 1990 to 2004 the number of tourist arrivals has remained broadly static, having recovered from a fall in arrivals between 1990 and 2004. Tables 4.3 and 4.4 indicate that tourist arrivals by train have fallen from 2.3 million in 1990 to 308,000 in 2004. Over the same period arrivals by road increased from 3.6 million to 5.4 million. The most dramatic increase in arrivals mode has been air, which seen a 260% increase in tourist traffic.

2 Inter-urban and International trips only 3 Inter-urban and International trips only


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Table 4.3: Tourist Arrivals (000’s) by Mode 1990 - 2004

1990 1995 2000 2004 Road 3,670 4,266 3,808 5,401 Rail 2,349 570 660 308 Air 271 433 655 705 Marine

4 242 176 141 186

Total 6,532 5,445 5,264 6,600 Source: Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2005

Table 4.4: Tourist Arrivals Modal Split (%) 1990 - 2004

1990 1995 2000 2004 Road 56.18 78.35 72.34 81.83 Rail 35.96 10.47 12.54 4.67 Air 4.15 7.95 12.44 10.68 Marine

5 3.71 3.23 2.68 2.82

Total 100 100 100 100 Source: Consultant

Transport policy, strategies and regulations in Romania is developed at the national level by the Ministry of Transport and Construction6. The ministry overseas construction programmes for national roads and manages this infrastructure through the Romanian National Motorway and Romanian Roads companies. County and communal (city) roads are implemented and managed by the relevant local administration. The National Spatial Plan (PATN), Section 1, Communication Routes, sets out the transport development objectives and priority transport infrastructure projects for the period 2007 to 2015. The specific objectives are to:

� Modernise the National Road Network. Raising 5,700 km of road to European standards. Completing 1,052 km of motorway, the Nadlac to Sibiu Motorway and forming a motorway link to Bucharest and Constanta. In addition some 300km of Ring Roads are planned around major cities.

� Railway Upgrading. Modernise some 1,100 km of track, improve rolling stock and stations to increase passenger numbers by 35% by 2015.

� Increase Maritime Traffic. Improve facilities and infrastructure to increase the volume of freight handled on inland waterways.

� Modernise Airports. Modernisation of four national level airports, Bucharest Henri Coanda, Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu, Timisoara and Constanta, to increase passenger flow to 11.3 million by 2015.

4 Including inland waterways 5 Including inland waterways 6 Formerly the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism


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4.2 Highway Network Romania has a total road network of around 80,000 km, of which some 15,700 km form the national roads network, as illustrated below in Figure 4.2.. This comprises national roads, motorway and European designated roads. Only 1.4% or 211 km of the national network is motorway standard. Of the European Roads most do not comply with EU standards and over 60% of all national roads are substandard. The balance of the road network, around 64,000 kilometres, is composed of county and municipal roads. Key statistics for Romania’s roads are set out below in Table 4.5.

Table 4.5: Romania, Public Roads 1995 – 2004 1990 1995 2000 2004 Total public roads (Km) 72,816 72,859 78,479 79,454 National roads (Km) 14,683 14,683 14,824 15,712 County and communal roads (Km) 58,133 58,176 63,655 63,742 Modernised (Km) 16,592 17,608 19,418 20,880 Km of road per 100 km² 30.5 30.6 32.9 33.3 Source: Romania Statistical Yearbook 2005

Since 1990 there has been a 61% growth in vehicle registrations, this increase has been particularly marked for cars, which have increased in numbers by around 150% since 1990. The growth in motor vehicles registered in Romania since 1990 is set out below in Table 4.6. In spite of the increase the number of vehicles is low by EU standards and a further increase is anticipated. Romania has 20 trucks per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to an EU average of 64/1,000 inhabitants. Car ownership rates are similarly low and expected to increase rapidly in the coming years.

Figure 4.2: Romania Highway Network

Source: Consultant


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As well as densely utilised and congested national roads there is also a major problem of urban road congestion in Romania. This problem is particularly acute in the major cities, towns and tourist attractions. While in many cases road capacities appear to be adequate junction design and driver discipline is often poor and road capacity is lost to parking. Standards of parking provision are very low with almost no public parking areas and little on site parking provision. In addition to reducing road capacity on-street parking occupies public footpaths, frequently forcing pedestrians onto the congested roads.

Table 4.6: Registered Motor Vehicles 1995 – 2004 1990 1995 2000 2004 Buses 24,297 30,365 27,181 25,421 Minibuses 3,975 11,682 13,535 17,771 Cars

7 1,292,283 2,197,477 2,777,594 3,225,367

Motorcycles 206,202 205,032 137,103 130,193 Others

8 364,145 465,756 529,257 586,934

Source: Romania Statistical Yearbook 2005

4.3 Air Infrastructure The country now has 16 commercial airports. The airport at Caransebes, the first to be privatised, has been closed as it does not now meet certification standards. Of the 16 remaining airports 11 are part of the trans European transport network and are therefore eligible for EU support, they do not include Targu Mures, Tulcea, Craiova and Baia Mare. Thirteen airports are international and have permanent customs and immigration facilities, although the remainder may obtain customs and immigration coverage at 48 hours notice. Four airports are classified as being national airports by the government, these are; Bucharest Coanda, Bucharest Vlaicu, Timisoara and Constanta Three airports are centrally controlled by the Civil Aviation Department; Bucharest Henri Coanda, Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu and Constanta. This department has a development programme for the airports under its control. Other airports are managed by county authorities although the Civil Aviation Department is responsible for reviewing their development strategies.

7 Including Taxis 8 Including commercial and specialised vehicles, such as tricycles


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Figure 4.3: Romania Airports

Source: Consultant

In 2004 the total volume of air passengers was 3,405,710, an increase of 9% on 2003. The evolution of the growth in air passenger movements in Romania 1999 to 2004 is set out below in Table 4.7.

Table 4.7: Summary of air passenger movements in Romania 1999 to 2004 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Scheduled flights 1,983,469 2,230,509 2,376,050 2,415,511 2,676,262 2,925,026 Charter flights 93,125 127,594 126,777 163,971 224,028 480,684 Total 2,076,594 2,358,103 2,502,827 2,579,482 2,900,290 3,405,710 Source: Romania Statistical Yearbook 2006

In 2006 Henri Coanda Bucharest was the busiest airport in Romania handling around 3 million passengers, followed by Timisoara with 500,000 passengers and Cluj Airport 250,000 passengers. The major domestic and international hub is Bucharest Henri Coanda (Otopeni). Carpatair have developed a western hub in Timisoara primarily serving a business market while the national carrier, TAROM, is developing a central hub at Cluj. The major low cost airport in the country is Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu (Baneasa) which handled 600,000 passengers in 2006. The characteristics of the country’s airports are set out below in table 4.8.


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Table 4.8: Romanian Airports

Town Airport Name Customs Passengers

2005 (* 2006) Runway Length

Arad Arad Yes 1,758 6,500 ft Bacau Bacau No 44,847 8,200 ft Baia Mare Tautii Magheraus No 6,309 5,900 ft Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu Yes 385,759 10,400 ft Bucharest Henri Coanda Yes 3,035,511 11,400 ft Caransebes Caransebes No 73 6,500 ft Cluj-Napoca Someseni Yes *244,366 6,000 ft Constanta M. Kogalniceanu Yes 111,142 11,400 ft Craiova Craiova O/R 1,557 8,200 ft Iasi Iasi O/R 41,959 5,900 ft Oradea Oradea Yes 37,891 5,900 ft Satu Mare Satu Mare No 9,276 8,200 ft Sibiu Sibiu Yes 60.475 6,500 ft Suceava Salcea O/R *12,766 5,900 ft Targu Mures Vidrasau Yes 4,215 6,500 ft Timisoara Traian Vuia Yes *608,212 11,400 ft Tulcea Cataloi No 29,054 6,500 ft Source: World Airports Directory

TAROM is Romania’s national air carrier and has a history stretching back to 1920, when it initiated a service between Bucharest and Paris. In 1990, following the Romanian revolution, the company was placed on a commercial footing and a new strategic programme adopted. The most noticeable aspect of this initiative was the modernisation of the fleet with a mixture of Airbus and Boeing airframes to bring the company up to competitive international standards. TAROM now has a fleet of 16 aircraft, 5 Boeing 737-300, 4 Boeing 737-100 and seven ATR 42-500’s. The TAROM shares are owned as follows: 92.63% by the Romanian State, 5.42% by Romanian Air Traffic, 1.43% by Muntenia, a Private Financial Investment Fund and 0.52% by the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority. TAROM is part of the Skyteam alliance and has recently announced that it will recommence long haul services after a fleet upgrade.


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Figure 4.4 : Henri Coanda International Airport

The airport, which is the busiest in the country, accounting for around 75% of all passenger traffic, is operated by a public company Comania Nationala AIHCB, and has two runways 3500m in length. In 2005 the airport handled some 3,035,311 passengers and 53,496 aircraft movements. Its current capacity is around 35 to 40 air movements per hour. It is forecast that in 2007 the airport will receive 4.4 million passengers. The airport is located to the north of Bucharest near the town of Otopeni and is often referred to as Otopeni Airport. The airport is classified as ‘Group 4’, small airport by the European Commission. In comparison Prague Airport currently receives over 11 million passengers while Amsterdam recorded 30.3 million passenger movements. Henri Coanda Airport is located some 18 km to the north of Bucharest city centre and is linked to the city by an express bus route and taxis. There are plans to link the airport to the city by a link to the M3 motorway and Bucharest Metro Line M6 and a light rail link to the Gara de Nord railway station. Currently the lack of a dedicated airport bus shuttle service and clear information services are major impediments to arriving tourists. The airport has a single terminal building comprising an International Departure Hall and an Arrivals Hall. Domestic flights are also handled at this terminal building. There are a total of 36 check-in desks, and a finger with 13 gates and five jetways. A second finger with 7 jetways is currently being constructed and a new terminal building is also being planned. The new terminal building, which will also include an airport hotel, will be built on the east end of the present terminal. The new terminal it will consist of four halls each with a passenger capacity of 5 million passengers annually. It is planned that by 2015 the Terminal 2 will be able handle an estimated 20 million passengers per year. It is reported, but not confirmed, that Baneasa Airport is scheduled for closure and that all activities and flights will be transferred to Henri Coanda. The airport is an important national and regional hub and is served by a wide variety of scheduled carriers, including:


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� Aegean Airlines to Athens � Aeroflot to Moscow � Air France to Paris CDG � Air Moldova serving Chisinau � Alitalia flying to Rome and Milan � Alpi Eagles flying to Venice � Austrian Airlines to Vienna � British Airways to London LHR � Carpatair to Constanta and Timisoara � Cimber Air flying to Copenhagen � Czech Airlines to Prague � Delta Air Lines to New York JFK � El Al flying to Tel Aviv � Finnair to Helsinki � Hemus to Sofia � Iberia Airlines to Madrid � KLM to Amsterdam � LOT to Warsaw � Lufthansa flying to Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf � Malev Hungarian Airlines to Budapest � Meridiana to Verona � Olympic Airlines to Athens � Swiss International to Zurich � Syrian Arab Airlines to Aleppo and Damascus � TAROM flying to Amman, Anatolia, Athens, Bacau, Baia Mare, Barcelona, Beirut,

Bodrum, Budapest, Brussels, Cairo, Chisinau, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Djerba, Dubai, Frankfurt, Iasi, Istanbul, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Milan, Monastir, Munich, Oradea, Paris, Rome, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Sofia, Targu Mures, Tel Aviv, Thessalonica, Timisoara and Vienna.

� Turkish Airlines to Istanbul � Windjet flying to Forli

In additional a number of charter airlines operate from the airport including Ion Tiriac and Romavia. Cargo facilities include national hubs for DHL and TNT. Traian Vuia International Airport, Timisoara The airport, which is located in Timisoara in Western Romania, is the second busiest in the country in terms of air traffic and is located some 12km to the north east of Timisoara city centre. The airport is publicly owned and operated by SN Aeropotul International Timisoara and has a single 3,500 metre runway and is capable of accommodating wide bodied aircraft. Previously known as Giarmata Airport it was renamed in 2004. In 2005 the airport handled 512,000 passengers. The airport has experienced passenger growth of around 25% annually with 650,000 passengers forecast to pass through it in 2006. The airport is the main hub for Carpatair, a major domestic and regional carrier. Airlines using the airport include the following:


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� Alitalia to Milan � Alpi Eagles to Venice � Austrian Airlines flying to Vienna � Carpatair serving: Ancona, Bacau, Bergamo, Bologna, Bucharest, Budapest,

Chisinau, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Düsseldorf, Florence, Frankfurt, Iasi, Lviv, Munich, Naples, Oradea, Paris, Rome, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Stuttgart, Suceava, Targu Mures, Turin, Venice and Verona

� Lufthansa to Munich � On Air flying to Pescara � Malev Hungarian Airlines to Budapest � MyAir to Milan and Venice � TAROM flying to Bucharest

A new terminal for Carpatair, at a cost of €50 million, is planned as part of the airport upgrading programme.

Aurel Vlaicu Airport (Baneasa), Bucharest Romania’s third busiest airport is Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu Airport. It was the city’s only airport until 1968, when the new International Airport was built. Up until the construction of the new airport in 1968 it was known as Baneasa Airport and was the country’s main air hub and base for TAROM, the national airline. By 2000 TAROM had moved all of its operations to the new international airport. Today Aurel Vlaicu Airport, which is located close to the city centre, has developed a role as a hub for business aviation and low cost airlines. The first low cost airline to establish there was Blue Air in 2004. It is reported that in early 2007 Sky Europe, Wizz Air, and Germanwings will also establish operations at Aurel Vlaicu Airport. The airport is located 8 km north of the city centre and is linked to the city by bus, tram and metro lines. In 2005 Aurel Vlaicu handled some 375,000 passengers. An increasing number of low cost operators have established services to Romania, these include:

• Blue Air: which has routes serving the following cities: Athens, Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels-South Charleroi, Cluj-Napoca, Cologne/Bonn, Cuneo, Istanbul-Ataturk, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Milan-Bergamo, Paris-Beauvais, Rome-Ciampino, Thessalonica, Valencia, and Verona

• Germanwings: to Cologne • Jet Tran Air: a charter operator • MyAir: flying to Bari, Catania, Milan-Bergamo, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Rome-

Ciampino, and Venice • Nouvelair : Monastir • SkyEurope : serving Bratislava, Budapest , and Rome-Fiumicino • Wizz Air: with flights to Barcelona, Budapest, Dortmund, London-Luton, and

Rome-Ciampino


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Cluj-Napoca International Airport The Cluj-Napoca Airport is publicly owned and operated by Consiliul JudeŃean Cluj. The airport has a single 2,100m runway and is the fourth busiest in the country. Situated some 10km east of Cluj-Napoca city centre the airport is served by bus and taxi services. The airlines which operate services from Cluj-Napoca International Airport include the following:

• Alpi Eagles flying to Venice • Blue Air serving Bucharest, Valencia, and Barcelona • Carpatair to Budapest and Timisoara • TAROM to Bucharest, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Sibiu and Vienna • Nouvelair flying seasonally to Monastir

Cluj-Napoca became an international airport in 1996 and has in recent years experienced a significant growth in passenger traffic as a hub for some of TAROM’s services. In 1999 the airport handled some 59,353 passengers, this rose to 105,091 in 2002 and to 121,037 passengers in 2003, a rise of 22% year on year. It is estimated that by 2010 the airport will handle 400,000 passengers and a new passenger terminal is planned to accommodate this growth.

Mikhail Kogălniceanu International Airport, Constanta Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport is situated in south-east Romania 26 km from the city of Constanta and is the main airport of Dobrogea region and the Romanian Black Sea resorts. The airfield, which has a 3,500m runway, is used for both civil and military use. The airport's maximum traffic capacity was reached in 1979 when, driven by tourist arrivals to the coastal resorts, passenger numbers reached 778,766 persons. With the loss of much of the foreign visitors to the Romanian Black Sea resorts flights numbers and passenger volumes have fallen dramatically. Improved road and rail links between Constanta and Bucharest have also led to a fall in traffic on that route. The airport now appears to operated well below its capacity. Scheduled services are provided by Carpatair to Bucharest and Timisoara while other airlines including Air Berlin, Hamburg International, Lauda Air, Lux Air, Malev, Sterling and Tarom provide season services through the summer tourist season. In addition the airport also receives a large number of charter services from across Europe through the summer season. Targu Mures Airport Targu Mures Vidrasau Airport has recently been renamed Transylvania Airport Targu Mures. The airport has a 6500 feet runway length and permanent customs and immigration facilities. The airport has undergone extensive renovation and in October 2005 a new international terminal was opened, and a Category II instrument landing


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system commissioned, allowing 24 hours flight operations. Transylvania Airport has seen impressive growth in passenger numbers over recent years rising from 4,200 in 2000 to 46,600 in 2005 and a projected 160,000 passengers in 2007.

Figure 4.5: Transylvania Airport Departure Hall

Source: Transylvania Airport

Scheduled services from Targu Mures are operated by Carpatair to Bucharest and Timisoara, Wizzair to Budapest, Barcelona and Rome, Cimber Air to Copenhagen and Malev to Budapest and London. There are ongoing negotiations with additional carriers who plan to initiate new routes in 2007, including a possible service to Israel. The airport management estimates that 61% of passengers are Romanian. Of foreign travellers 47% are Hungarian and 32% from the UK. Since accession to the EU a number of low cost carriers have investigated establishing services to Romania airports, including Targu Mures. These carriers are reported to include Ryanair and EasyJet. The arrival of these low cost carriers servicing major tourist source markets is to be encouraged and supported and marketing assistance to such carriers should be cost/benefit analysed.


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4.4 Rail Infrastructure

Figure 4.6: Romania Rail Network

Source: Consultant

Romania has a total of 11,385 km of railway and 1,844 stations in 20059; of this total 10,898km were standard gauge, 60 km broad gauge and 427 km narrow gauge. A total of 3,888 km of the network has been electrified. Key statistics for the railway network are set out in the table below.

Table 4.9: Romania Railways Key Statistics

Source: Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2004

The administration of the railways in Romania has recently undergone reorganization to

9 CIA World Fact Book

Year Network length (km) Total passengers

(million)

Intercity and international

passengers (million) 1990 11,348 407.94 30.58 1995 11,376 210.74 18.88 2000 11,015 117.50 11.63 2004 11,053 99.43 8.64


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place the system on a more commercial footing. A Romanian Railway Authority, AFER, was set up by Government Ordinance as an agency of the Ministry of Transport and is charged with the administration and regulation of the railway industry in Romania. AFER’s main tasks are the following:

� To monitor and enforce national and international railway regulations � To enforce safety and environmental regulations on railways and to certify

railway equipment and staff � To monitor technical and maintenance standards of the railways � To investigate serious accidents

The railroad infrastructure is administered by the national rail operator is CFR, Caile Ferate Romane, which runs the fourth largest railway network in Europe in terms of passenger volumes. The railway system in Romania dates from 1854 and CFR has been operating since 1880. At the time of the change of government in 1989 the country had one of the most heavily utilised railway networks in Europe, although with old and outdated equipment and infrastructure. Through the 1990’s the system underwent a period of decline with many rural lines closing and rolling stock falling into disrepair. In 1998 the railway sector was reorganised and a major investment programme undertaken by CFR. The rail network serves a total of 996 stations throughout the country. The network has suffered for many years from poor maintenance and underinvestment. As a result speed limitations are in place along much of its length, some 27% of the network has a maximum running speed of 50 km/h, and on 39% of the network trains are limited to 80 km/h. As a consequence journeys are often slow and tedious. While the railway system has benefited from a major investment strategy improving the quality of services in an ongoing programme passenger numbers have been in steady decline since 1990. The CFR railway network operates four different types of passenger trains on its routes, these are:

� "P" Personal Trains, these are slow and extremely cheap services operating primarily in rural areas

� "A" Accelerat Trains, a semi slow-service operating between towns but not serving villages

� "R" Rapid Trains, a more comfortable and faster service operating on trunk routes

� "IC" Intercity Trains, CFR’s premium service. CFR has recently introduced a business class to its intercity services. The Business Class service has better seating, personal TV's and wireless internet access. The service is around 50% more expensive than regular services. The concept of rail tourism is well established as a niche product area with many international examples of flagship tourism products such as the Orient Express and the Palace on Wheels. With its extensive network of scenic routes and vintage steam engines CFR recognised the tourism potential of these resources and formed The Railway Tourism Company, CFR. Principle scenic routes include the following;


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� Sinaia – Brasov Line, crossing the Carpathians Mountains into Transylvania � Brasov – Sibiu Line, along the Fagaras Mountains and Olt Valley � Ilva Mica - Vatra Dornei Line, through the Bargau and Suhard Mountains � Mestecanis Pass, including the viaducts of the Salauta Valley and the

Maramures line � Caransebes to Turnu Severin Line, through the Semenic and Cerna

mountains and along the River Danube � Oravita to Anina Branchline, through the Semenic Mountains

Itineraries operated by CFR cover the entire Romanian rail network and are focused on the main tourism centres of Sibiu, Brasov, Targu Mures, Viseu, Suceava, Bucharest and Oravita. A wide range of products are on offer from day trips to tours of a week or more. It is also possible for organised Groups to rent the former Romanian king's personal train as well as former president Ceausescu's private train. Recently some narrow-gauge lines have been reopened and are operated on an occasional basis by SFT, these include:

� Abrud to Campeni � Targu Mures to Band, and � Moldovita to Canton

Many of the narrow gauge lines are located in forestry areas and were managed by the Forestry Railway, Caile Ferate Forestiere (CFF). Since 1989 CFF has been privatised and sold to private forestry companies with many of the lines closing down. With the development of rural and eco tourism in forestry area some of these lines, such as the Vasser Valley Scenic Railroad, have become significant tourist attractions. 4.5 Sea and River 4.5.1 River Tourism Cruise tourism growth is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry and has in recent year’s undergone sustained growth of around 5% a year. The Black Sea is an established cruise tourism destination, the major ports being; Varna in Bulgaria, Constanta, Yalta, Odessa and Sochi in Ukraine, as well as the northern Turkish ports of Trabzon, Sinope and Batumi. In addition to Black Sea tourism a number of river cruises also operate along the River Danube. The Danube enters Romania at the Iron Gates on the country’s southern border and runs for over a thousand kilometres towards the Black Sea, where it forms the largest delta area in Europe. The Danube Delta is a biosphere reserve covering 5,500 km² of wetlands, a unique habitat for over 300 species of birds. Danube cruise activities run through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania offering tourist and operators a wide range of multi centre itineraries. A multi-national body, the Danube Tourism Commission, was established in 1970 to promote tourism development along the 2,500 km length or the river and its hinterland. Romania joined this Vienna-based organisation in 1999.


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Among the many sights near or along the Romanian section of the Danube River, worth visiting are: the ruins of the Roman bridge at Drobeta, Topolnita Cave, The Iron Gates Dam, the cities of Drobeta Turnu Severin, Orsova, Giurgiu, Oltenita the river port of Bucharest, Braila, Galati and Tulcea in the Danube Delta area. In 2004 some 90 liners worked the river, rising to 100 in 2005 and 109 in 200610, growth approaching 10% per annum. Romanian cruise operators and shipping companies presently operating are:

� ATBAD � Eurodelta Travel � Karpaten Turism � Navrom, and � Prestige Tours

4.5.2 Black Sea Cruise Tourism The port of Constanta is located on the Black Sea coast some 340 km north of the Bosphorus Strait and 160 km south of the Danube’s entry into the Black Sea. The port, which is the fourth largest in Europe, has 140 operational berths and a handling capacity of 100 million tonnes a year. The total quay length of the port is 30 km and water depth varies between 8 and 19 metres, capable of accommodating vessels of up to 165,000 tonnes. The port has, in recent years, seen impressive traffic growth. Container traffic has grown from 118,000 TEU11 in 2001 to 1,037,000 TEU in 2006. As the country’s principal deepwater port and leading tourism destination Constanta has developed sea and river cruise tourism activities. In 2005 a new cruise passenger terminal was inaugurated in the port of Constanta in order to further develop cruise tourism activities. The new terminal is located in the old port, close to the city centre and the resort area of Mamaia. A broad review of Black Sea cruise tourism activities has been carried out and identified cruises set out below in Table 4.1

Table 4.10: Black Sea Cruise Activity 2007-8 Ship Line Passengers Nights From Constanta

Call

Rotterdam Holland America 1600 12 Piraeus Oriana P&O 1900 18 Southampton Rhapsody MSC 800 12 Genoa Seven Seas Regent 500 12 Piraeus X Costa Classica Costa 1400 14 Genoa Rotterdam Holland America 1600 14 Piraeus Boudicca Fred Olsen 900 28 Dover Crystal Serenity Crystal 1000 12 Piraeus X Rhapsody MSC 800 12 Genoa Prinsendam Holland America 800 12 Piraeus X Corinthian II Noble Caledonian 120 10 Venice Perla Louis Line 1000 10 Piraeus X

10 Danube Tourism Commission 11 TEU, Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit


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Galaxy Celebrity 2200 14 Genoa X Marco Polo Orient Lines 800 14 Piraeus Europa Hapag Lloyd 400 10 Istanbul Perla Louis Line 1000 10 Piraeus Galaxy Celebrity 2200 14 Genoa X Deutschland Deilman 500 10 Istanbul X Rotterdam Holland America 1600 12 Piraeus X Costa Europa Costa 1500 12 Genoa Clipper Adventurer Clipper Line 120 12 Istanbul X Nautica Oceania Cruises 800 12 Piraeus X Royal Princess Princess Cruises 800 12 Genoa Costa Europa Costa 1500 12 Genoa Silver Whisper Silversea 400 8 Istanbul Seabourn Spirit Seabourn 200 13 Istanbul Hebridean Spirit Hebridean 80 13 Istanbul X Silver Cloud Silversea 200 12 Piraeus X Nautica Oceania Cruises 800 18 Southampton Rotterdam Holland America 1600 12 Piraeus Oriano P&O 1800 18 Southampton Rhapsody MSC 800 12 Genoa Seven Seas Regent 500 12 Piraeus X Costa Classica Costa 1400 14 Genoa

The above Table indicates that in the order of 20,000 tourists will cruise the Black Sea on scheduled cruises during the season 2007-8. Of this total some 11,500 will call at the port of Constanta, as a rule for one day. The above data excludes Russian and Ukrainian origin vessels. This indicates that the Constanta Cruise Terminal is active for only around 14 days, or 14%, of the 100 day cruise season in the Black Sea. Increased use of the Terminal may be achieved by attracting a higher percentage of scheduled cruises or by offering Constanta as a home port in lieu of either Piraeus or Istanbul. Aside from the issue of port charges it should be noted that the present low level of international services to Constanta Airport constitutes a major problem.

4.6 Tourism Access Gateways 4.6.1 Potential Tourism Development Areas On the basis of tourism resources, access infrastructure and outline market analysis a number of areas have been identified as potential tourism development areas. The areas identified are broad geographic zones which should be developed as priority areas. The areas identified have a broad mix of attractions capable of sustaining tourism activity through the year. To reflect the mix of activities and development opportunities in these areas we refer to them as clusters. The following potential tourism development areas, or clusters, have been identified and are illustrated in Figure 4.7:

� Bucharest City Break – Culture, MICE, and Leisure � Transylvania Tourism Circuit – Culture, Nature, Eco tourism, Health and

Wellness, Skiing and Adventure Tourism � Black Sea Coast – Beach, Leisure, Culture, Health and Wellbeing, Black Sea

cruises � Bucovina – Culture, Eco tourism, Nature, Wellness, Skiing and Adventure

Tourism


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� Maramures – Culture, Nature, Eco Tourism, Skiing and Adventure Tourism � Danube Delta – Nature, Eco Tourism, River Cruises, and Leisure

Figure 4.7: Tourism Development Clusters

In each of the clusters a wide range of tourism activities is available, for example Transylvania has extensive cultural, nature, eco tourism, health and wellness, ski and adventure tourism resources. Within each of the product groups a range of opportunities exist and create the opportunity to form a range of tour itineraries for example; fortress churches and citadel towns. Further detailed planning work will require to be undertaken to develop and market such circuits as well as identifying development nodes as well as detailed accommodation, infrastructure and facility requirements. The Demonstration Project for Sighisoara, set out in this report, examines the development requirements and standards for a development node, or sub-centre on a Transylvanian Tourism Circuit. 4.6.2 Tourism Access Gateways Associated with each of the clusters identified as being priority tourism development areas, access gateways, or service centres, have been identified. The purpose of these gateways is to provide a viable focus for tourism development in each of the cluster areas. In the largest of the clusters, Transylvania, two gateways have been identified serving the northern and southern areas respectively.


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Gateways have been selected on the basis of a number of broad criteria, which include; the availability of high quality and high capacity transport linkages, including international linkages; a high level of existing tourism infrastructure; an established base of service industries and tertiary education institutions. Gateways should, in addition, have a high level of tourism resources and attractions as well as an established tourism image.

Figure 4.8: Proposed Tourism Access Gateways

Subject to further detailed study an initial list of tourist gateways, or cluster development nodes has been drawn up. The identified centres are:

� Bucharest, International gateway for airport and international rail services. Trans-European transport corridors IV and IX. National capital, administrative, business and cultural centre, city break and business tourism destination.

� Constanta, hub for Black Sea Tourism, trans-European transport corridor IV, international airport and rail services as well as Danube and Black Sea linkages

� Suceava, international airport , rail and E58 serving the Bucovina tourism cluster � Targu Mures, international airport and route E60 serving the north Transylvanian

tourism cluster. � Sibiu, trans-European transport corridor IV, international airport and rail links

serving the south Transylvanian tourism cluster. � Cluj-Napoca, International gateway with airport, railway services and E60

serving the Maramures tourism cluster. Particular attention should be paid in the tourism development process to ensure that transport and other tourism infrastructure is implemented in a programmed and timely


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fashion. Failure to coordinate the development of these centres will impede the development of the entire cluster which will be deprived of a service base.


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5 Other Infrastructure 5.1 Telecommunications 5.1.1 General Romania’s telecommunications system was, until recent years, a state monopoly and suffered from a lack of investment and competition. Prior to early 1997 Rom Telecom was the national telecommunications company. Since that date the industry has been privatised and, in common with most other European markets, has seen the entry of a large number of private operators, competition, improved levels of service and falling charge rates. Liberalisation has also enabled Romania to invest in the infrastructure for a modern and competitive IT system which is currently expanding at an impressive pace. It has been estimated that the Romanian IT market was worth €4 billion and will grow at a rate of around 19%12 in 2007. 5.1.2 Fixed line telephone service The telephone voice market in Romania was deregulated in 2003 although this has not brought about any significant changes. RomTelecom, with 89.5% of the market, remains the dominant provider for fixed line services providing services on 3.9 million lines. The copper wire system is now being upgraded to a fibre optic network with over 30,000 km already installed. This network, in which RomTelecom are investing €500 millions, will carry voice, data and VPN, Internet as well as video services. 5.1.3 Mobile telephone services Mobile GSM phone services were launched in Romania in 1997 with the Mobi Fon and Mobil Rom services. By the end of 2001 there were 3.9 million mobile subscribers, a penetration rate of 17.3%. By 2001 the mobile phone penetration rate had reached 60%, one of the highest in Europe. By 2005 four major providers were present in the sector with the arrival of Orange and Vodaphone and the total number of mobile subscribers had risen to 13.5 million13 with a penetration rate, in line with other European nations, of around 85%. 5.1.4 Internet and broadband access Nationally, in 2006, broadband penetration was 5.5% and was forecast to reach 10% by the end of 2006. This growth is expected to be sustained at least in part by some €336 million which the EU is investing in the IT sector up until 2013. The largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are RomTelecom, Astral Telecom, and RDS. Mobile internet access is also offered by Orange, Vodafone, and Zapp. At the end of 2005 the number of regular internet users in 2005 was estimated to be approximately 3.7 million. The total number of Internet users including occasional users is estimated at approximately 4.7 million, an Internet penetration rate of 22%. Along with

12 A Growth Strategy for Romanian Telecommunications, Panagiotis Kargados, CEO, RomTelecom 13 Romanian Telecom Market Overview; Roland Berger Consultants


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the rise in internet penetration the number of .ro Romanian domains registered has risen from 68,000 in 2004 to 112,000 in 2005. 5.1.5 Cable and Satellite Television Services Since the liberalisation of the Telecoms sector cable TV distribution has emerged as a fast developing sector. At present some 45% of households have access to Cable TV and with over 3.3 million subscribers Romania is ranked sixth in Europe by market penetration. 5.2 Sewerage Some 90% of the urban population and 10% of the rural population is connected to a sewage network. Of the total volume of sewage only 77% receives full treatment ot European standards. Of the major urban centres Bucharest, Craiova, Drobeta, Braila., Galati and Tulcea discharge sewage with no treatment. The EU recognizes the low standards of wastewater treatment in Romania and the resultant problems of nutrient pollution. In 2001 only 16.514% of all discharged water requiring treatment was treated to the correct standard. 35% of all such water received no treatment at all. A number of programmes have been initiated financed by PHARE, ISPA and Sapard funding. It is understood that the construction of a modern treatment plant for Bucharest has been delayed by contractual disputes and has only recommenced construction. The discharge of raw sewage into coastal water has been a particular problem and has led to high levels of environmental damage as well as posing a health risk. Four wastewater treatment plants at Constantia Nord, Constantia Sud, Eforie Sud and Mangalia are presently being constructed with EU funds and are scheduled to be in operation at the end of 2008. All new tourism developments should, as a condition of obtaining their operating license from the NTO, meet acceptable standards of sewage and wastewater disposal. Developments should either be linked to the public network or have on site treatment in the form of septic tanks or package treatment plans, dependant on the scale of the development. 5.3 Solid Waste Disposal Historically solid waste treatment and disposal has also been something of a problem in Romania and the images of heavy industrial pollution in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s did much to colour the international image of the country. As a result of the fall in industrial activity in the country, particularly in the mining sector, the volume of waste generated has fallen substantially. It was estimated that in 1995 Romania generated some 353 million tonnes of waste falling to 55 million tonnes in 2000. A national strategy for waste management has been adopted which undertook to conform to all European Directives on waste management by 2007. Of the total volume

14 UNDP


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of waste some 8.15 million tonnes15 is municipal and domestic waste. Around 80% of urban areas have collection services, while collection services are almost totally absent in rural areas. Waste not collected by local authorities is generally disposed of on a local dump site. Landfill is the most common method of waste disposal in Romania. The annual quantity of waste disposed is in the order of 200,000 tonnes. There are at present 973 landfill sites in the country, covering a total area of over 11,000 hectares. 303 landfill sites are located in urban areas. Many disposal sites are located in unsuitable environmentally sensitive areas, such as river banks, and only around 10% of all sites have environmental operating permits. While a number of initiatives have been taken and solid waste collection contractors are now employed in all major towns and cities the legacy of many years of neglect remain. The disposal of municipal and industrial waste is a major problem and does much to generate a negative environmental image of the country. The outskirts of many towns and villages are blighted by wind blown waste and fly-tipping alongside roads. In addition many of the country’s picturesque countryside, forests and rivers continued to be littered with unacceptable volumes of refuse. Anecdotal evidence suggests that littering creates one of the strongest negative responses from foreign visitors to Romania and clearly must be addressed if the country is to develop as an international destination. Romania has received a loan of €20 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is designated for a pilot waste management project in the city of Bacau. This project comprises a number of components, including:

� Landfill modernisation, the closure of local landfills and the supply of landfill-related infrastructure,

� Waste collection vehicles, containers and landfill equipment, � Preparation of concessions and regulatory support.

5.4 Water

Water quality in Romania is a major problem, and often cited as being the major environmental issue in the country, with both surface and ground water is heavily polluted. The main sources of pollution are from industrial activity, including chemical and petrochemical industries, as well as domestic, agricultural and mining waste sources. Waste water from these sources is discharged untreated or only partially treated. There are around 4000 waste water treatment plants, however most plants are old and provide little more than primary screening by way of treatment. The pollution of inland waterways from which water is abstracted is a particular problem. The Danube, which provides much of Bucharest’s water, is highly polluted and contributes significantly to water quality problems in the Black Sea.

Romania, which acceded to the EU on January 1 2007. In common with many other new members levels of public infrastructure are below average levels of European

15 Estimated volume for 2000, source Eurostat


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provision. The country has a population of some 22 million inhabitants of who only 15.5 million have access to a piped water supply and 11.5 million and sewage connection. Only 54%16 of the population has access to both piped water and sewage. The present deficit in water supply deficit is a direct result of the low level of infrastructure provision in the sector. Supply issues have also arisen due to the excessive consumption levels of the local population and a general lack of awareness of water conservation issues. The European Union has allocated Cohesion Funds of some €1 billion for water supply and sewage projects. In addition the World Bank has provided $100 million to finance a Rural Development Program (RDP) in five counties across the country. This programme covers some 320 villages and a rural population of around 400,000 persons. Most of Romania's water supply is sourced from rivers, which meet 89%17 of present demand. They are provided by the rivers, which meet 89 percent of the present demand. Of that total 48% is sourced from the Danube. The Danube Delta, on Romania’s Black Sea coast, is a unique natural habitat, which has been designated as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Water supply and wastewater treatment has been privatised in two of Romania’s cities, Bucharest and Ploesti. The water supply concession for the capital, which lasts 15 years, has been awarded to the French company Veolia18 and its local affiliate APA Nova Bucharest. 5.5 Heat and Power 5.5.1 Electrical Supply In 2004 Romania had an installed generating capacity of 18,31419 MW which was generated from a variety of sources including nuclear, thermal and renewable. The country had a net energy shortfall of some 6% of total demand. A breakdown of electrical generation is set out below in Table 5.1

Table 5.1: Romanian Power Generation

Generation Source % of total Hydro 23.28 Nuclear 9.65 Wind 0.00 Thermal, of which 66.97

coal 37.88 oil 4.38

gas 24.95 biomass 0.01

16 Romanian Water Association 17 UNDP 18 Formerly Generale des Eaux 19 Source: Austrian Energy Agency


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Source: Austrian Energy Agency

The Romanian electrical supply industry was previously under the control of RENEL, a state-owned monopoly. This company was unbundled into separate companies responsible for generation, transmission and distribution. There are now seven separate thermal producers, one hydro power generating company and Nuclearelectrica, which is responsible for the nuclear sector.

Romania operates on 220 volt, 50 Hz electricity in common with European norms. Two-pin plugs are standard along with the Schuko, European type F plug. The demand for electricity had generally fluctuated in line with the country’s economic performance and is at present growing by around 3% a year.

5.5.2 Electrical Grid

The Romania electrical power transmission grid is operated by Transelectrica, a state-owned enterprise. The extensive distribution network has an overall length of some 600,000 km and is interconnected to the regional power grid. In 2002 Transelectrica received a $51.5 million loan from the EBRD to upgrade the transmission network and make it compatible with the western European power grid. The national grid operates on 750 kV, 400 kV, and 220 kV for transmission and 20 kV, 10 kV, 6 kV, 1 kV and 0.4 kV for distribution.

In August 2006 the electrical sector was unbundled and privatised20, with a number of foreign companies entering the market. The distribution system is furnished by 8 regional transmission companies, namely:

• Electrica Banat, purchased by the Italian group ENEL • Electrica Dobrogea, also purchased by ENEL • Electrica Moldova, purchased by CEZ • Electrica Oltenia, purchased by CEZ • Electrica Muntenia Sud • Electrica Transilvania Nord • Electrica Transilvania Sud • Electrica Muntenia Nord.

The national distribution network is connected to the European Grid and is estimated to be one of the most efficient in Europe. National generating capacity exceeds demand and Romania is a net exporter of power. At a regional and local level the low and medium voltage transmission networks have suffered from underinvestment in the past and are now being upgraded as a condition of their privatisation. Some 98% of all households in Romania are connected to the electrical grid, which is available in all but the most inaccessible areas.

20 Transelectrica, Romanian Power Grid Company


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While some local supply difficulties are being experienced in some areas, such as the northern Black Sea Coast, electrical supply availability and stability is not in the medium to long term seen as being a constraint to tourism development.

5.5.3 Gas Distribution and Supply

Romania is the largest producer of natural gas in Central and Eastern Europe, producing 6.1 million m³ in 2004, natural gas accounts for 20% of the country’s energy consumption. Although production of natural gas has fallen in recent years the country has the highest domestic demand in the region. As well as its own reserves Romania now imports natural gas from Russia. SNGN Romgaz SA is the company responsible for natural gas production and storage and provides over 41% of the gas consumed in the country. Due to a more market based pricing structure demand for the fuel has been falling in recent years as consumers become more prudent in its use.

The natural gas distribution network in Romania is managed by two companies, Distrigaz Sud SA and Distrigaz Nord SA. In May 2005 Gaz de France acquired 51% of Distrigaz Sud which serves over one million households and businesses in southern Romania. The distribution network covers most of the country and appears to widely available and utilized even in rural areas.

5.6 District Heating

Romania has a well developed district heating system, which is largely a legacy of the previous socialist regime. Nationally around 29% of the country’s building stock receives hot water for heating and consumption from central, or district, heating plants. This figure rises to 55% in urban areas. District heating accounts for about 60% of the Romania’s heat and hot water demand and a total of 68 towns and cities have district heating networks.

The majority of systems were installed prior to 1972 and as a result are inefficient, with high thermal losses in transmission. Following the adoption of a ‘National Strategy for Thermal Energy’ in 2004 there has been renewed investment and renovation of these systems. A key project in the programme is the construction of a district heating plant for the city of Iaşi which is receiving a €20m loan from the EBRD to renovate the local distribution network. Among the renovation projects undertaken is that for Campeni in Alba County which has constructed a district heating plant with two biomass-fired boilers. This plant, for a town with a population of 10,000, incinerates local waste including wood waste and makes a significant contribution to reducing local pollution, particularly in the River Arie. This initiative, which was funded by the EU, is commended and may provide a model for tourism development areas by not only providing an energy need but also tackling local solid waste disposal problems.


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6 Accommodation 6.1 Accommodation Categories and Supply Full details of officially registered accommodation in Romania are published by the National Institute of Statistics in its 'Romanian Tourism in Figures – 2006'. The NTA has a very broad range of classifications into which it registers accommodation:

Table 6.1: Accommodation Units and Bedspaces by Category 2006

Category Units Bedspaces Hotel 1,066 167,705 Motel 154 5,359 Tourist Inn 9 278 Youth hotel 34 2,272 Hostel 41 1,240 Cabana 116 4,696 Villa 742 15,561 Bungalow 298 4,184 Pension – urban 702 12,428 Pension – rural 1,259 14,391 Camp site 68 26,962 School camps 128 20,261 Holiday village 2 110 Tourist halting places 31 1,034 House lets 53 4,193 Boats 7 461 Total 4,710 281,135

Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures - 2006

This reflects the formally registered accommodation stock. There is considered to be a large "informal" stock of accommodation, mostly in smaller sized units. The growth in capacity in the main accommodation categories in recent years is significant.

Table 6.2: Accommodation Units and Bedspaces 2001 – 2006

Accommodation type 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2001-6 %

Hotels and Motels Units 968 974 1029 1077 1154 1220 26

Beds 162116 161386 164571 166362 170288 173064 7

Urban Guest Houses Units 244 271 328 461 597 702 188

Beds 3660 4320 5670 8100 10910 12428 240

Rural Guest Houses Units 536 682 781 892 956 1259 135

Beds 4736 6181 7510 9405 11151 14391 204

Youth Hotels & Hostels Units 10 12 19 31 58 75 650

Beds 365 325 626 1180 988 3512 862


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School Camps Units 168 168 157 157 151 128 -24

Beds 33460 30099 32821 30198 28916 20261 -39

Tourist Villas Units 746 669 676 691 716 742 -1

Beds 18079 16121 16464 16107 15157 15561 -14 Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures – 2006

There has been significant expansion in the hotel/motel and guest house sectors. While there has been a large increase in hostel accommodation there has also been a larger decrease in school camps. Quality of Accommodation The classification system awards stars and flowers based almost entirely on the provision of physical facilities. There is little account taken of the quality of facilities and service. Consequently there can be a wide spectrum of quality and price within a star category. Although the balance is improving, there is still a preponderance of accommodation units at the lower end of the market with nearly 70% of rooms being two star or lower.

Table 6.3: Star Rating of Accommodation 2006

Category Units % Rooms %

5 star 53 1 1,481 1

4 star 251 5 7,787 7

3 star 990 21 24,703 21

2 star 2,084 44 57,713 49

1 star 955 20 17,749 15

Unclassified 377 8 7,400 6

Total 4,710 100 116,833 100

Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures – 2006

Figure 6.1: Accommodation Units by Star Grading 2006

Accommodation Units by Star Grading -

2006

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

Unclassified

Units


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Figure 6.2: Bedspaces by Star Grading 2006

Bedspaces by Star Grading 2006

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

Unclassified

Beds


Location of Accommodation For convenience accommodation location is presented partly by geography and partly by destination type.

� Spa resorts � Coast (excluding Constanta) � Mountain resorts � Danube Delta (including Tulcea) � Bucharest and other commercial centres (excluding Tulcea) � Countryside and other areas

Table 6.4: Location of Accommodation 2006

Units Rooms %

of Units %

of Rooms

Spa 377 17,380 8 15

Coast 919 44,920 20 38

Mountain 973 13,280 21 11

Delta 144 1,319 3 1

City 818 25,240 17 22

Other 1,479 14,694 31 13

Total 4,710 116,833 100 100 Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures – 2006

The larger accommodation units are found in the spa resorts, on the coast and in the cities.


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6.2 Seasonality of Accommodation Supply and Occupancy From data provided by accommodation units on the number of bedspaces they made available during the course of the year it is possible to identify the average number of days properties were open. This does not indicate the exact months of peak seasons in different tourist areas, but, when compared to occupancy rates achieved, does indicate the potential financial viability (or otherwise) of accommodation units.

Table 6.5: Operational Periods and Occupancy Levels – all Registered Accommodation by Location

Seaside Spa Mountain Delta Cities

Beds 160,214 39,090 33,196 3,806 51,734

Available Bedspace Nights 9,918,831 10,714,712 9,153,362 532,763 16,381,326

Average Number of Days Open 62 274 276 140 317 % bedspace occupancy when operational 45 53 22 27 31 Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures – 2006

It can be seen that many of the accommodation units at the seaside operate on an extremely short season. This has many ramifications – the need to charge high (probably uncompetitive) rates when open, personnel problems, etc. – and clearly demonstrates the need to extend the season in this area. The relatively good occupancy rate achieved in spa resorts is made possible as the vast majority of clients come at predetermined times on subsidised treatment tickets (Bilete) and properties can gear their opening times and operations accordingly. It is known that mountain accommodation units' peak occupancy is during the winter sports season, that is principally at weekends and during national holiday periods. There is plenty of spare capacity at most other times. The Delta's peak season is in the summer, but accommodation units achieve a longer season than the seaside due to shoulder and winter season special interest and activity holidays. While remaining open for most of the year most cities enjoy high mid week occupancy, but suffer from reduced business at weekends and during the summer and Christmas/New Year holidays. Occupancy data is available on a non-geographic basis for various accommodation types. As might be expected the peak period is in the summer months, but even then low levels of bed occupancy are achieved. There was a low occupancy in April (Easter) possibly indicating the normal reduction in business tourism at this period not being offset by leisure tourism.


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Figure 6.3: % Occupancy of Available Bed Nights - 2006

% Occupancy of Available Bednights

- All Accommodation - 2006

05101520253035404550

January

February

March

April

May

June Ju

ly

August

September

October

November

December

%


The data indicates that accommodation supply far exceeds demand for most of the year, which explains why in certain areas accommodation is not operational for extended periods.


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7 Tourist Facilities and Services 7.1 Travel Agents and Tour Operators There are 2,638 companies with combined tour operator and travel agency licenses and a further 184 companies licensed solely as travel agents. The high number of tour operators is accounted for by the relatively minor additional qualifications required for a travel agent to be designated as a tour operator. The majority of "tour operators" do not perform this function.

Table 7.1: County of Location of Travel Agents and Tour Operators

County Combined Travel

Agent/Tour Operators Retail Travel Agencies

Alba 34 1 Arad 39 2 Arges 44 5 Bacau 75 6 Bihor 51 2 Bistrita Nasaud 45 3 Botosani 7 3 Brasov 129 15 Braila 42 4 Bucuresti 909 36 Buzau 19 6 Caras-Severin 14 1 Calarasi 9 3 Cluj 127 13 Constanta 147 14 Covasna 9 3 Dambovita 14 6 Dolj 44 2 Galati 67 6 Giurgiu 6 1 Gorj 9 1 Harghita 19 2 Hunedoara 49 Ialomita 5 1 Iasi 136 12 Ilfov 10 Maramures 37 Mehedinti 11 Mures 36 4 Neamt 30 Olt 21 1 Prahova 74 7 Satu Mare 21 4 Salaj 6 Sibiu 63 4 Suceava 67 Teleorman 8 1 Timis 100 7


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Tulcea 27 2 Vaslui 31 Valcea 14 3 Vrancea 33 3 2638 184

Source: NTA

ANAT, the travel agency association, is one of the largest and most active tourism industry associations. 7.2 Tour Guides Tour guides are required to qualify at the Centrul National de Invatamant Turistic (National Centre for Tourism Training – CNIT) or other institutions specifically authorised by the state. There are 937 Tour Guides registered with the NTA. These comprise the following categories:

Table 7.2: Qualified Tour Guides

National 758 Local 93 Specialist:

• Mountain 56

• Religious 26 • Equestrian 1 • Sport 1

• Animation 1 • Ecotourism 1

Total 937 Source: NTA

There is a good range of language skills, with guides qualified in the following languages:

Table 7.3: Languages Offered by Tour Guides

Arabic 3 Bulgarian 1 Czech 9 English 622 French 190 German 105 Greek 6 Hindi 1 Italian 43 Hebrew 1 Japanese 29 Hungarian 20 Norwegian 4


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Dutch 1 Portuguese 3 Polish 3 Romanian only 68 Russian 10 Spanish 26 Sweden 4 Turkish 2

Source: NTA The regional distribution of tour guides is good.

Table 7.4: Regional Location of Tour Guides

County National Guides Local Guides Specialist Guides Alba 7 Arad 16 Arges 20 3 Bacau 28 Bihor 12 1 Bistrita Nasaud 6 1 Botosani 3 Brasov 45 10 32 Braila 7 2 Bucuresti 278 9 4 Buzau 2 1 Caras Severin 2 6 Calarasi 3 Cluj 45 1 Constanta 19 4 Covasna 5 1 Dambovita 7 1 Dolj 6 1 Galati 2 3 2 Giurgiu 1 Gorj 4 Harghita 18 2 Hunedoara 3 2 25 Ialomita 1 Iasi 39 1 Ilfov 4 Maramures 8 1 2 Mehedinti 1 1 Mures 20 19 Neamt 11 2 Olt 6 2 Prahova 21 1 Satu Mare 5 Salaj 2 1 Sibiu 11 1 2 Suceava 22 4 Teleorman Timis 33 2


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Tulcea 12 2 Vaslui 6 Valcea 9 12 9 Vrancea 10 2 1 Source: NTA Although the academic proficiency of guides and their subject knowledge is generally high there is little training in the skills of handling and interacting with visitors. 7.3 TICs in Romania and NTA Offices Abroad There are 37 Tourist Information Centres (TICs) in the country. For a locality to be designated as a resort it is a statutory requirement that a TIC is provided. The majority of TICs are funded by the local authorities. They are typically staffed by two persons, who may also have to undertake promotional work. This results in restricted opening hours in many cases. Basic operational guidelines for TICs were compiled by NTA and GTZ in 2004-5. These have still to be expanded and completed. 6-monthly training courses for TIC staff were held up to 2005, but have not been continued.

Table 7.5: Location of TICs by County

County Town County Town Alba Alba Iulia Ialomita Slobozia Garda de Sus Iasi Iasi Arad Arad Ilfov Arges Maramures Sighetu Marmatiei Bacau Bacau Mehedinti Bihor Oradea Mures Targu Murs Bistrita Nasaud Neamt Piatra Neamt 1 Botosani Piatra Neamt 2 Brasov Bran Olt Brasov Prahova Azuga Predeal Sinaia Prejmer Valea Doftanei Braila Valenii de Munte Bucuresti Satu Mare Buzau Salaj Caras Severin Resita Sibiu Rasinari Cluj Sibiu Constanta Constanta 1 Suceava Suceava Constanta 2 Sucevita Covasna Sfantu Gheorghe Teleorman Dambovita Timis Timisoara Dolj Tulcea Crisan Galati Sulina Giurgiu Tulcea 1 Gorj Targu Jiu Tulcea 2 Harghita Miercurea Ciuc Vaslui Hunedoara Orastie Valcea Raminicu Valcea Petrosani Vrancea

Source: NTA


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NTA has a network of 16 offices abroad located in 15 countries (two in Germany). Their main functions are to:

� provide tourist information to the public � promote Romania to tour operators � develop relations with the media � coordinate promotions, advertising and Romania stands at exhibitions

Most offices have a single staff member posted from Head Office and no local staff. The operation of public offices in major cities as well as the salary and allowance costs of Romanian staff means this is an expensive exercise. The market penetration effected by such small operations is inevitably very low.

Table 7.6: NTA Offices Abroad

Country City Austria Vienna Belgium Brussels China Beijing France Paris Germany Berlin Germany Munich Israel Tel Aviv Italy Roma Japan Tokyo United Kingdom London Moldova Chisinau Russia Moscow Spain Madrid USA New York Sweden Stockholm Hungary Budapest


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8 Human Resources and Training

8.1 Introduction

Successful and sustainable tourism development depends not only on attractive scenery and facilities but also on competitive quality services. Hospitality and tourism is a people industry; people providing services to people.

As one of the most competitive economic activities in the world, tourism requires understanding, professionalism, commitment, organisation and an effective human resource development strategy.

Hospitality and tourism consist of both facilities and services. Competitive services can only be provided by a well-trained and skilled workforce, with the right attitude, the right mentality, the right behaviour and the right performance.

A skilled and qualified workforce requires training, basic education and vocational training, as well as continuous on-the-job and upgrading training.

Modern hospitality is about satisfying visitors and the competence required to meet - and even exceed - the visitor’s expectations. If the expectations created by the tourism marketing and promotion efforts cannot be met because of a lack of qualified manpower, tourism will not be sustainable.

This does not only concern foreign tourists coming to Romania, but also Romanians in their own country; international as well as domestic tourism. According to available statistics from 2006, over 80% of the overnight stays were made by domestic tourists and less than 20% by foreign tourists. All deserve quality and adequate and friendly services.

8.2 Quality of Service

Hospitality service skills, both professional and behavioural, are still under-developed and need a lot of attention in the coming years. Also the improvement of service attitude and mentality is a point of urgent attention.

The level of competence in the hospitality and tourism industry is low, due to the lack of performance standards, the lack of adequate and up-to-date occupational standards, and the lack of adequate education and training standards.

Formal pre-service training for the needs of the hospitality and tourism industry is not yet sufficiently developed. Real specialised vocational hospitality training, to prepare people for a potential job in the hospitality industry, hardly exists and tourism related training is integrated in special secondary education and in higher university education.

With a few exceptions, non-formal, continuous, on-the-job and in-service training is almost non-existent. Some of the international chain hotels have their corporate in-house training programmes, but the training input has a limited impact because of the relative high staff turnover.


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Middle management lacks on-the-job supervisory and training skills, also because practical supervisory skills and training techniques are not included in the curricula of the current hotel management (foreman) training programmes.

There is no training awareness and there is no training culture. This has to be developed within the hospitality and tourism industry itself and within the government.

8.3 Manpower Situation

The hospitality industry in Romania suffers from a serious shortage of trained and qualified staff and this constrains the overall service performance. However, a shortage of qualified staff is not the same as “a shortage of staff” in terms of quantity.

The shortage of qualified staff is only partly because a large number of young people leave Romania to work abroad, after they have received their diploma from high school or university (but still lacking sufficient competence!), or after they have worked in a hotel for a short time.

This shortage has a number of reasons.

� The current training programmes are not training for competence and skills and are not up to standards. Many training providers issue the diplomas and certificates necessary for employment without delivering full and appropriate training.

� A considerable number of young people are leaving the Romanian hospitality and tourism industry to work abroad, because of the low image of a job in the hospitality industry and the low wage level.

� The management and supervisory level is lacking in-house on-the-job training skills to keep skills up to standards and maintain performance skills.

� There is no adequate continuous in-service training to upgrade the skills and knowledge of existing hospitality staff on the various levels.

The shortage of qualified staff will further increase rapidly because of the large number of new hotels and guesthouses currently under construction and under development within the coming few years. Several new hotels are under development in Bucharest as well as in other cities and places throughout the country and a large number of new establishments are planned. All these new hotels and guesthouses need qualified staff.

However, in principle there is no particular shortage of untrained and unqualified potential staff for the hospitality industry, although the unemployment rate has dropped considerably from 10,2% in 2002 to 5,5% in 2006 (Source: National Institute of Statistics)

It is a wrong perception that all staff or all new staff for a new hotel need to be pre-trained and qualified staff. In principle only a certain percentage (depending of the level of service quality and the existing on-the-job training skills) needs to be pre-trained and qualified, which includes mainly craft level positions. The other employees can be trained on the job, but need to have the right attitude and mentality.


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Currently there is no clear distinction between hospitality related jobs and travel and tourism related jobs. Also employment statistics group employment figures within “Hotels and Restaurants”, which automatically include also all independent restaurants, fast food restaurants, small local restaurants, etc., while travel and tourism related employment is grouped within all “Transport and Tourism” employment statistics, automatically including also all public transport staff.

8.4 Employment in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector

The hospitality and tourism industry consists of two main sectors, the Hospitality and the Travel and Tourism sectors, each consisting of different sub-sectors, each consisting of specific jobs and job opportunities, which require qualifications and skills obtained either through formal pre-training or continuous on-the-job training.

The Hospitality sector can be divided in three sub-sectors:

� Accommodation

� Food & Beverage Services or Catering services

� Conferences and Events

Accommodation is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry providing a large number of jobs and job opportunities in the different parts of the country at different career levels. New accommodation developments offer new jobs.

The different types of accommodation establishment offer a wide range of different jobs and career opportunities at different levels, in Hotels, Motels, Spa Resorts, Guest Houses, Campings, etc.

The larger hotels and resorts consist of different departments such as Front Office, Housekeeping and Conference and Meeting facilities. Guest houses often have multi-functional teams operating the establishment managed by the owner.

Food & Beverage Services includes the various types of establishment supplying food and beverages for consumption, from all types of hotel restaurants, separate restaurants, hotel bars, pubs, lounges to outlets of catering firms. Not all of them catering for tourists, but all offering related job opportunities.

Conferences and Events include all types of conferences, from large national conventions and corporate meetings to local and regional expositions, trade shows, etc. The planning and the organisation of these conferences and events requires know-how and skills and offer job opportunities for skilled and unskilled staff on a full time and an ad hoc basis.

According of the official employment statistics compiled and published by the National Institute of Statistics, the total number of people directly employed in the hospitality industry was around 151.000 in 2006. This includes all employment in independent restaurants, but excludes all employees in unregistered establishments, mostly unregistered rural guesthouses.


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Total employment in the hospitality sector, excluding independent restaurants and other catering establishments is estimated at roughly 88.000 in 2006, based on assumed average staff-room ratios.

The Travel and Tourism sector includes also a number of sub-sectors.

� Tour and Travel Trade Services

� Transportation

� Visitor Attractions

� Tourism Administration and Organisation

Tour and Travel Trade Services are businesses organising tours and tour packages, travel arrangements (inbound and outbound), ticketing and guiding tourists and tour groups. Jobs and job opportunities can be found in Tour Operation, Travel Agencies, Booking Agencies, Tour Facilitators and independent Tourist Guiding services.

There are currently around 1000 registered tourist guides in Romania, licensed by the NTA. These guides are categorized as national guides and specialised guides and are divided according to the languages they speak. Some of the registered tourist guides operate on a freelance basis and some of them are employed by tour operators.

Registered tourist guides must renew their NTA registration every three years to keep their license to operate valid. As the minimum registration requirements in the current tourism legislation do not include assessing and testing the tour guiding skills, the NTA licence is no guarantee that the guide is a skilled and qualified tourist guide.

Transportation is not only to bring people from A to B, but includes making a journey efficient, comfortable as part of the total tourist experience. The transport sub-sector plays an important role in the tourism industry, with air, rail, ground and water being the major transportation means serving visitors/travellers within the country.

Visitor Attractions include everything from museums, historic buildings, monasteries and national parks to a variety of tourist activities, such as fishing, bird watching, mountain trekking, skiing, horseback riding and golf.

Although there are significant differences between the figures of different sources, official figures indicate there were 675 museums in 2005. It is unknown how many staff are employed in the museums and what are the different tasks, but it is estimated that at least 3,500 staff are dealing with visitors in terms of providing information, selling souvenirs, guiding visitors etc.

In general staff have not been trained to perform their jobs and are not aware about hospitality and visitor satisfaction. Neither are they aware about tourism in general and the importance of their behaviour for the general tourism image and reputation of Romania. In this respect there is no difference between foreign visitors and domestic visitors.

Tourism Administration and Organisation includes organisations, associations, government authorities and companies specialised in serving the needs of the tourism industry as a whole - the National Tourism Organisation/Authority to regulate the tourism


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industry, hospitality and tourism associations regulating and representing private sector members. This sub-sector also includes tourist information centres, regularly operated by the tourism organisation/authority or local town halls.

In 2007 there are 37 tourist information centres in Romania divided over the various counties and cities, with total number of staff around 90 tourist information officers. In addition to the official tourist information centres there are a number of private information centres and a number of visitor centres at national parks, etc. Most of the tourist information officers are lacking specific tourist information skills on providing information, display information and communicate information.

There is an urgent need to train the existing tourist information officers in communication skills and the specific tourist information skills.

The public sector, within the Ministry responsible for tourism and the National Tourism Authority employs over 130 tourism officials in the different departments, of which several lack the specific professional skills.

No reliable figures are available about the total number of current employees in the travel and tourism sector.

It is obvious that the hospitality and tourism industry offers a wide variety of opportunities for employment. Jobs are not only limited to the traditional assumed operating jobs, but also include a wide range of employment opportunities in finance, human resources management, marketing, sales, retail, public relations, business development and development planning.

8.5 Formal Pre-Service Hospitality and Tourism Training

Currently Hospitality and Tourism Education and Training in Romania, mainly includes the formal education and training on tourism at a number of specialised high schools at vocational level and at economic faculties at some universities at post high school level, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.

Some of the specialised high schools do have practical training facilities, through technical assistance aid programmes, to offer practical skills related training programmes on cookery and food and beverage service skills. Most of the curricula are outdated or have only recently been adjusted slightly. The syllabi are inadequate and teaching staff lack the necessary qualifications and operational experience and to meet the required training standards.

Teachers at schools and trainers are heavily underpaid in Romania. Schoolteachers start at a level of about 100 Euro per month and experienced teachers earn about 300 Euro per month.

The existing training programmes are often more academic than practical, more teaching than learning and more diploma focused than competence focused.

Some of the high schools and universities (academies) offering tourism related programmes were visited:


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� Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Trade, Bucharest

� IRECSON, the Romanian Institute for Economic-Social Research and Polls

� Grup Scolar Economic Administrativ si de Servicii, Calimanesti

� Colegiul Economic “Virgil Madgearu”, Bucharest

� Colegiul Economic Viilor, Bucharest

� CNIT Complex hired by THR-CG (Tourism, Hotel & Restaurant Consulting Group), for Adult education programmes.

Formal pre-service hotel management training is mostly offered by universities and is based on the wrong perception that hotel management is a non-operational job and that students graduate as managers and are able to manage a hotel immediately. In the hospitality industry nobody graduates as a manager, but as a potential manager and has to start in the different operational departments of a hotel first. There are hotel managers in Romania who had never visited a hotel at the time of their graduation.

This is the reason why the majority of the managers in the hospitality industry lack hospitality management skills.

Tourism related training is often purely academic and is also provided by the specialised high schools and universities. As most tourism related training is not practical skills based, the quality depends on the curriculum, the syllabi and the qualifications of the teaching staff.

In principle the quality of formal tourism related training is adequate and only needs upgrading according to modern international standards.

Besides the formal education and training at specialised high schools and universities, there is the formal system of “adult education” programmes through the Institute for Tourism Education CNIT, under the responsibility of the National Tourism Authority NTA. CNIT has contracted the execution of training programmes to a number of institutions and training providers, among which THR-CG (Tourism, Hotel & Restaurant Consulting Group).

These training providers are offering a range of “adult education” short term, long term, full-time and part-time programmes for the hospitality and tourism industry. Training providers must be registered and accredited by NTA, but are also lacking the required operational expertise and qualified and experienced teaching staff.

In most cases the programme they are offering is mainly certificate focused, as anyone who wants to apply for a job in the hospitality and tourism industry needs to have a diploma or certificate. This rule was introduced within the labour law in 2006, as the general service level was considered unacceptable.

Because of this, the value of a diploma or certificate has devalued considerably, as it does not cover competence and skills, especially for the increasing number of international standards hotel operators.

In the early nineties the Ministry of Tourism developed a strategic plan for re-organising national tourism training. The overall objective of the strategic guidelines was to set up a


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training network, which would, within the overall education system, equip the industry to compete for international tourism. Part of the strategy was to establish the National Institute for Tourism Training and Management (INFMT) as the leading body for post-school vocational training for hotel and catering skills. INFMT was controlled by the Ministry of Tourism and included the integration of the Parc Hotel as the main practical training centre.

The facilities were initially constructed and equipped in 1974 through UNDP technical and financial assistance. The former training centre complex comprises an integrated complex with the Parc Hotel and the currently renovated Ramada Hotel. It underwent considerable upgrading and re-equipping in 1994 and has benefited from financial and technical assistance under the EC Phare programme.

This INFMT was further developed and transformed into the Institute for Tourism Education CNIT complex, under the responsibility of the National Tourism Authority NTA, and was responsible for the formal “adult education” programmes. The focus for hotel and catering training was completely dominated by the formal sector, without the involvement of the private sector.

Due to a range of problems CNIT stopped being directly involved in actual training and outsourced this responsibility to a private training provider THR-CG (Tourism, Hotel & Restaurant Consulting Group founded in 1998) by contractual agreement.

Since 2000, THR is contractually renting the premises from CNIT to carry out their adult education training programmes.

The training facilities consist of a 420 seat lecture amphitheatre, a 60-seat and a 30-seat classroom with AV equipment, an IT laboratory with computers, etc., a large kitchen with about 20 workstations, two training restaurants and a training bar area and a library-mediatheque with reading rooms.

The National Tourism Authority still has the responsibility of licensing the existing training providers and accrediting the training courses delivered within the adult education framework.

The weak point of this training strategy was that the Ministry of Tourism decided on the requirements of the sector rather than involving the hospitality and tourism industry and responding to training needs identified and prioritised by the industry itself.

Implicit in the strategy was "drawing up the list of trades/specialities for which the tourism training system assures diplomas". This did not take account of the fundamental changes to the tourism workforce that have taken place in the rest of Europe. These changes were characterised by flexibility and multi-skilled working. This aspect of the strategy was not appropriate to the need to reform staff structures and work practices in the industry.

This situation continued during the last ten years and is still continuing. Although there was already the recognition in the early nineties that the system needed to be reformed and that it had to be linked to the emerging standardisation of European vocational qualifications, not so much has been changed afterwards.


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Formal education and training specifically for the hospitality industry, as a separate and specialised vocational training, is still almost non-existent in Romania, except for one or two private initiatives, such as the Royal Institute of Hospitality Management (RIHM), which has created the postgraduate diploma programme on hospitality management, in collaboration with Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland and of which the first participants graduated in June 2007.

It is very difficult to assess the quantitative future manpower needs. No studies in this respect have been made and the assessments are left to the individual schools and universities. However, the training institutions are not used to training according to demand, the needs and the requirements of the industry.

The current system can be characterised as teaching and diploma focused, instead of learning and performance competence focused.

In spite of incidental adjustments of the official formal training curriculum and of incidental relationships between high schools with specialised tourism profiles and other European training institutes, no structural changes have been made.

8.6 Non-formal Ongoing In-service and Upgrading Training

Formal pre-service education and training for the hospitality and tourism industry, as a preparation for a potential job in the hospitality and tourism industry is only one part of the training needs.

Service skills, technical and behavioural, in the hospitality and tourism industry in Romania are generally poor, although it has improved to some extent during the last five years because of the increasing number of international standard hotels in Bucharest and other parts of the country. However, the level of competence is still low. This is closely related to the general lack of standards of performance and occupational standards.

Ongoing in-service and on-the-job training to further improve the professional skills of the workforce is currently almost non-existent, except the corporate in-house training programmes of the international chain hotels.

This need has never been recognised. Even continuous “adult education” is a form of formal pre-service education and not a form of continuous on-the-job training to further improve skills and competence.

In modern hospitality middle management plays a key role. It is the job of the supervisors of larger hotels and of the managers/owners of small guesthouses to “run” their staff, to supervise and motivate their staff, but also to train and coach their staff continuously, in order to achieve a better performance and to keep it on the required level.

It is a wrong perception that all staff in hospitality should be pre-trained; in principle only part of the staff needs to be pre-trained, and mainly the craft positions. Many can be trained on-the-job by their supervisors. But supervisors need to be able to train their staff and therefore need to be trained to train their staff. And also unskilled hospitality


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staff do need to have the right attitude and mentality to become quality staff. This is what needs to be done to solve the basic problems.

Very little on-the-job training and in-service upgrading training takes place. Currently the weakest points of the Romanian hospitality industry are the management and supervisory skills, including the on-the-job training skills, kitchen skills (preparation, organisation, menu planning and management) and customer service skills.

8.7 Occupational Standards for the Hospitality and Tourism Industry

In modern hospitality education and training it is best practice to train according to the needs of the industry; to train for jobs, based on up-to-date occupational standards.

In Romania the National Qualification Authority CNFPA is responsible for all accreditation of formal training and for the development of training standards and occupational standards.

In 2003 a total of 300 occupational standards were developed within the framework of a World Bank sponsored project, of which the occupational standards for the hospitality and tourism industry were recently updated through a GTZ technical assistance project. During the last two years a special sectoral committee validated the occupational standards.

However, the direct link between the occupational standards and the actual training standards (train for job requirements) are not yet clearly visible.

There is a need for short-term technical assistance to further modernize and update the specific job titles and occupational standards in line with European best practice. A recommended format is given in the Annexes.

8.8 Tourism Awareness

Tourism Awareness means the basic understanding of hospitality and tourism principles, the benefits and consequences of tourism and tourism development for the country, the basic understanding about visitor satisfaction and customer care and the pre-conditions of successful and sustainable tourism.

The general level of public hospitality and tourism awareness in Romania is low. Also the level of understanding of the conditions and needs for the sound and sustainable development of both international and domestic tourism, among those involved and employed in the hospitality and tourism industry itself, is rather low. The majority of public sector officials and authorities, whether at national, regional or local level does not have a clear understanding about the basic principles of visitor satisfaction, marketing approach, visitor behaviour and tourism business objectives.

Hospitality and tourism is a “profession” and understanding hospitality and tourism is a skill, which requires special training and experience. However, many people are dealing with the phenomenon in some way, directly and indirectly, and need to be aware about the basic principles.


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Local planning authorities, regional authorities and national government officials in all almost ministries and departments are in some way directly or indirectly involved in the organisation and development of tourism. Certain planning decisions do contradict with tourism development objectives; some development strategies disturb a sound tourism development.

Tourism development is an extremely sensitive issue, as tourism is one of the most competitive economic activities in the world. Tourism development doesn’t come automatically, as it relates to images and reputations. Successful and sustainable tourism requires cooperation between all stakeholders and requires partnerships between the public sector, which has to facilitate tourism, and the private sector, which has to provide the facilities and the services to the various markets and market segments. Without understanding each other’s objectives and each other’s problems tourism will not develop satisfactorily and beneficially.

The main objective for the hospitality industry of a tourist destination is to create satisfied tourists, who had a positive experience and are willing to return and tell others. Visitor satisfaction involves the total experience from beginning to the end of the visit. In principle it includes “the total experience and memories resulting from taking part in the tourism activity, which begins from the time the tourist chooses his/her holiday or travel destination and ends when he/she returns to his/her normal place of residence”.

This means that a lot of people are involved in the satisfying process and can contribute to it or can spoil this experience. All people directly and indirectly involved in making the tourist experience a positive one should be aware of their role and influence. This makes general tourism awareness a basic requirement for the successful and sustainable development of tourism.

Currently there is a low level of hospitality and tourism awareness in the country at all levels and still a rather negative attitude and mentality towards hospitality and tourism as a service industry.

In general there is also a rather low attitude and mentality towards providing services and a low image of a job in the hospitality and tourism industry. This is not only because of a lack of hospitality and tourism awareness, but also has to do with the generally low salary level, one of the lowest in the Romanian economy.

This is also one of the main reasons that so many young people are leaving the country to find a job in the hospitality and tourism sector abroad.

They leave because of:

� Many young people don’t feel respected by the older generation and by the current legal system, the complicated law and regulations. They feel more appreciated in other (European) countries.

� The still rather “old fashioned” educational system, more focused on teaching and diplomas than on learning and competence. More theory than practice.

� The very low salary levels, especially in the hospitality and tourism sector

� The lack of on-the-job training to improve operational and performance skills


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� The rather low image of a job in the service industry

� The still unsuccessful development of tourism in Romania

And still, the future of hospitality and tourism in Romania depends to a large extent on the young generation.

A pressing issue is also the high prevalence of litter in the country, in particular litter in tourist areas, near tourist attractions and access roads to tourist sites. The amount of rubbish (plastic bottles especially, also glass, metal cans, etc.) that litter rivers, streams, roads and paths is incredible. Around rural villages, there are masses of rubbish that have simply been thrown in the ditches and forests. In general this makes a very negative first impression as part of the tourist experience. It is an important part of public tourism awareness and tourism awareness of local authorities.

Litter is not only a negative issue in relation to tourism, but also in relation to public health and safety and to the environment in general.

8.9 Future Training Needs

It is very difficult to identify the future quantitative manpower needs for the hospitality and tourism industry in Romania. Currently a large number of workers, who graduated from one of the vocational or university educational programmes, are leaving to find a job abroad. Also a large number of people, who started with one of the larger international chain hotels after school graduation, are leaving Romania after a few months practical experience.

It is estimated that less than 20% of the graduates of the tourism specialised high schools or universities with tourism related programmes are actually ending up in the hospitality and tourism industry in Romania.

The main reasons for this low percentage are:

� The current level of competency after graduation is very low, because the quality of the curriculum and course is too low, the lack of qualifications of the teaching staff and the fact that the majority of the courses are not practical but mainly theory

� The value of a diploma has decreased considerably

� The relatively low salary level in the hospitality industry

� The lack of career opportunities because of a lack of in-service and on-the-job training

� The wrong perception held by university graduates in tourism that they will start as a manager

Romanian workers are highly appreciated in many countries in Europe and overseas. They learn fast and are willing to work hard. The salaries earned in the hospitality and tourism industry are usually much higher than in Romania, where the average monthly net salary for a waiter, receptionist or room maid is about 140 Euro.

Figures about the numbers of workers going abroad and their level of skills do not exist. Neither do figures about the average length of their absence. Roughly estimated the


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number will be between 10 and 20 % of those with a basic tourism education and a diploma from one of the existing high schools offering a tourism related programme.

The hospitality industry primarily needs trained operational staff and does not need academic university graduates.

8.9.1 Future Formal Pre-service Hospitality Training Requirements

In 2007 the number of staff employed in the private hospitality sector is estimated at around 88.000, of which 67.000 in hotels, 16.000 in officially registered guesthouses and about 5.000 in other types of accommodation.

About 6.000 in management positions, including guesthouse owners, 9.000 in supervisory positions, 20.000 in craft level positions (cooks) and about 17.000 in skilled level positions that should have had a formal hospitality training background and about 33.000 unskilled without a necessary formal training background.

Several new hotels are under development in Bucharest as well as in other cities and places throughout the country and a large number of new establishments are planned. All these new hotels and guesthouses need qualified staff.

With the number of newly built and planned hotel accommodation and the rapid increase in the number of guesthouses in the rural areas, it is estimated that, including replacement staff, the future annual training needs for the hospitality industry will be around 12% to 15%.

Management level 800 - 1000

Supervisory level 1000 - 1400

Craft level employees 3000 - 4000 (kitchen)

Skilled level employees 2000 - 2500 (food & beverage service, front office, housekeeping)

This covers about 55% of the additional annual staff needs within the hospitality industry. About 45% of the required staff does not have to be formally pre-trained and can be trained on-the-job, mainly housekeeping staff, food and beverage service staff, front office staff and supporting staff. Most craft level staff does need formal training.

It is obvious that these percentages are different for international standard hotels and for rural guesthouses.

In principle the quantitative training needs are much higher, as the available data about the current number of accommodation establishments does not cover the non-registered guesthouses and the many newly developed hotels and guesthouses built during 2007 and the coming few years. Also the large number of independent restaurants is not considered, which do need pre-trained staff.

It is also assumed that still a lot of trained young people will leave Romania to work in the hospitality sector abroad, as long as the image of a hospitality service job and the salary levels are still low.


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A restructuring of the formal hospitality training situation is not only based on the training needs, but should also be based on available resources and realistic possibilities.

8.9.2 Future Formal Tourism Training Requirements

The number of pre-trained travel and tourism staff depends to a large extent on the development of tourism and the growth of the travel trade sector; the number of additional incoming and outgoing tour operators, travel agencies and the number of additional tourist guides.

The main requirements concern the specific skills for tour operation staff and for tourist guides and the improvements of the respective curricula according to the occupational standards. Also, with regards to formal tourism training, the courses should be more job focused and tailored to the needs of the travel and tourism industry.

In principle formal travel and tourism training should be multi-skilled training programmes to give graduates a broader job perspective.

Tourist Guiding Skills

The main job of a tourist guide is to escort groups of visitors or individual visitors from abroad, or from the guide's own country, around the sites, monuments, and museums of a region or city, interpreting inspiringly and entertainingly in the visitor's (own) language, the cultural and natural heritage and environment.

From the visitor's point of view the tourist guide is a person employed directly, either by the traveller, an official or private tourist organisation or a travel agency, to inform, direct and advise the tourist before and during his/her journey.

The tourist guide also has the additional role of an introducer and must help his/her listeners understand and appreciate the country. Everything the tourist guide speaks about should come alive. He/she should present the realities of the country in the best possible way.

The job of the tourist guide is therefore not simply to repeat a list of facts giving the information like an audiotape, but to create the image of the country for the visitors in an appropriate and attractive manner.

The tourist guide must be qualified in various ways, particularly in language ability and in terms of wide general knowledge of the history, geography, art and architecture, economy, politics, religion and sociology of his/her country or region.

The tourist guide is far more than a person who just informs, introduces, guides and gives advice during visits. For the majority of foreign visitors, the tourist guide is the person, native to that country, with whom they have the most contact.

The tourist guide is also an organiser and a manager, to organise and manage a tour, either for a group of for individual tourists. These organisational and tour management skills are less important for some of the specialised guides at sites, museums, monasteries, etc.


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This all requires specific skills and knowledge and requires specialised theoretical and practical training.

Tourist Information Skills

Adequate tourist information is one of the most important aspects of a successful and sound tourism development. People being in a different and unfamiliar environment, whether abroad or within their own country, always need information. Visitors need information about a range of subjects; where to go, where to stay, where to eat, what to do, what to buy, etc.

A lot of information is provided in advance through Internet or in guidebooks, but visitors to a place, region or country are very often looking for the Tourist Information Office.

Especially in a country like Romania where most of the foreign visitors are not familiar with the language and cannot read all the signs, assistance and information in English (and German) is of critical importance.

But also Romanian domestic tourists need information when they are visiting other places in the country.

Adequate tourist information is a key service for all visitors. Providing adequate information to tourists is a key task in the total tourism experience and a key job in satisfying visitors.

Providing adequate tourist information is a specialised skill. Producing, displaying, handling, distributing, communicating and managing different types of tourist information are specialised skills, which require training.

In principle, providing information to tourists is a service, but it doesn’t always have to be a free service. More and more tourist information centres in Europe are forced to operate on a more commercial basis, selling products and services for a nominal price.

Also information does not have to be expensive full colour promotional brochures and city maps, but can also be simple but adequate fact sheets or black and white maps, printed on the spot.

This means that the Tourist Information Officers of tomorrow must also be familiar with salesmanship and commercial thinking.

The public is getting used to the fact that information they need could have a price. Few visitors nowadays expect expensive thick full-colour brochures for free when they visit a tourist information centre. They expect simple, straightforward and factual information, which can be printed out as a fact sheet on request.

There is an urgent need to train the existing tourist information officers in communication skills and the specific tourist information skills.

Special training programmes for tourist information staff does not exist in Romania, not in the formal tourism education sphere and not in the industry training sphere.


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8.9.3 Future In-service Training Requirements

Continuous in-service training to maintain and upgrade the skills and performance of the existing staff in the hospitality industry is an urgent requirement. If operational skills are not supervised and coached well and if the existing skills are not upgraded continuously through refresher and upgrading courses, the performance skills will go down, affecting the quality of service.

First of all the general level of supervisory and (middle) management has to be upgraded, both their professional skills and their on-the-job training skills to be able to train, coach and motivate the staff to perform better.

This will solve a great deal of the staff shortage problem and it will also improve the general quality of service in the hospitality industry during the coming few years.

The upgrading of the middle management in the hotels and independent restaurants has to go hand in hand with the professional and behavioural upgrading of the existing operational staff.

This will be an enormous challenge as it concerns many individuals, but it ensures a major step forward towards a better competitive position for Romania as a sustainable tourism destination for the international and domestic markets.

8.10 Training Requirements for NTA Staff

Although the main responsibility of the National Tourism Authority NTA is to guide, supervise and lead the hospitality and tourism industry and to provide services to the sector in terms of marketing and promotion, planning and organisation, legislation and licensing, etc., the current level of expertise and qualifications of the staff is rather low.

The NTA staff are all civil servants and the majority of them are recruited from within the civil servants from other ministries. Only a very few do have a specific tourism education background and are recruited as a professional. Also most of the department heads have other backgrounds. The “president” (after May 2007 “state secretary”) and the “vice president” of the NTA are political positions. On-the-job professional training has not been provided. The current expertise derives from work experience.

Because of this lack of qualifications and specific expertise in hospitality and tourism, the general image of NTA within the hospitality and tourism industry is very low and the services provided to the sector are limited mainly to licensing activities and to promote Romania as a tourist destination.

Active planning, marketing, market and sector research activities, compilation of tourism statistics and guidance and coordination of human resource development are not part of the daily activities.

Within the framework of the Tourism Development Master Plan project the first training input since about eight years has been provided for a considerable number of employees. This means that most of the staff had never had any related training at all.


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For those who do have some tourism related background, this education was mainly at one of the universities offering a tourism programme. However, in spite of the fact that a diploma was issued these staff members declared not to have learned much.

The general knowledge of the English language is low and needs improvement for the following reasons:

� The National Tourism Authority is and will be the main counterpart organisation of several tourism related technical assistance programmes and donor projects. Communication with foreign experts always needs interpretation and translation

� The NTA is responsible for international relations and for marketing and promotion the tourism products at international markets, where the common language is English.

� International hospitality and tourism is using an international accepted terminology, which does not always have modern Romanian equivalents.

In principle the task of a national tourism organisation as NTA should be to implement the government policy and strategy on hospitality and tourism to supervise and to guide and supervise the private sector and to provide the necessary tools and support for a successful and sustainable hospitality and tourism industry.

In order to achieve such a situation a drastic change is necessary, both to the organisational structure and to the human resource structure.


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9. Marketing 9.1. Market Performance and Assessment 9.1.1 Statistical Database Romania’s tourism statistics are compiled and issued by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The National Tourism Administration plays no role in the collection or market-related analysis of tourism statistics. The NIS data series have two serious shortcomings:

1. the frontier arrivals figures do not discriminate between day trippers and overnight visitors. There is no measure, therefore, of tourists in the UNWTO definition i.e. visitors spending at least 24 hours in the country. This failing makes it difficult to compare Romania with other countries in terms of international tourist flows.

2. to measure tourist demand, the Romanian authorities use accommodation registrations – as recorded in UNWTO data. However, these figures are flawed in three respects:

First, not all accommodation establishments register; some because they are not required to – i.e. below 5 rooms; others because they choose not to register and operate on the “black market”. Second, establishments are legally obliged to file a monthly return of

registrations and person bednights. However, no check is made as to whether or not this is done. The establishments are aware of this failure to monitor returns so a number of them do not submit them. Third, a visitor on a tour of Romania will be counted each time he/she registers and there is no way to establish how many different accommodation units a visitor stays in. This multiple counting serves to increase the numbers of tourists while reducing the average length of stay of tourists.

These three factors lead to the conclusion that official statistics related to accommodation demand are at best partial. There appears to be little correlation between trends in frontier visitor arrivals and registrations at accommodation establishments, a particular difficulty when it comes to setting credible targets of future tourism demand and assessing future requirements for accommodation and trained personnel.

9.1.2 Overseas Visitor Flows Between 2000 and 2006, the volume of visitor arrivals – including day visitors - in Romania grew at an average annual rate of just 2.3%. The accommodation registration statistics give perhaps a more accurate picture of international tourism in Romania showing a stronger 8% average annual rise since 2000, but these data include multiple counting of round tour tourists so the number of 1.4 million accommodation registrations for 2006 is an overstatement of the volume of international tourists – though to what extent is unknown. Interviews suggest the incidence of round tour tourism is increasing, thereby increasing the extent of multiple registrations, but there is no statistical evidence


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so we can only state in broad terms that the 8% average annual growth in foreign tourist accommodation registrations overstates the rise in tourist arrivals. There is considerable year-on-year fluctuation with the past two years being particularly difficult to explain. In 2005, visitor arrivals fell by almost 11% while accommodation registrations rose by 3.9%. This pattern can perhaps be explained by the increasing sensitivity of neighbouring countries to the floods and avian flu outbreak suffered by Romania in that year. The reverse pattern occurred in 2006, though the variance was less marked. Arrivals rose 3.4% while registrations declined by a similar proportion over 2005. Table 9.1: Foreign Visitor Arrivals and Accommodation Registrations, 2000-2006 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 +/-%

p.a. Arrivals ‘000 5,264 4,938 4,794 5,595 6,600 5,839 6,037 +/-% on previous year

-6.2 -2.9 +16.7 +18.0 -11.5 +3.4 +2.3

Registrations ‘000

867 915 999 1,105 1,359 1,430 1,380

+/-% on previous year

+5.5 +9.2 +10.6 +23.0 +5.2 -3.5 +8.0

Source: Romanian National Institute of Statistics

9.1.3 Comparative Performance A comparison with regional competitors reveals that Bulgaria, Romania’s immediate neighbour on the Black Sea coast, receives almost four times the number of overnight foreign tourist registrations in commercial accommodation as Romania; and has achieved an average annual growth of 11%. between 2000 and 2006 The Ukraine and Turkey – as well as smaller competitors like Serbia Montenegro – far exceed Romania’s tourism growth rate. Croatia’s growth – while more modest at 8% a year – attracted 6 times the flow of international tourists registering in commercial accommodation compared to Romania.

Table 9.2: Foreign Tourist Arrivals in Competing Countries Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 +/-

% p.a.

Austria 17,982 18,180 18,611 19,078 19,373 19,952 20,256 Bulgaria 2,785 3,186 3,433 4,048 4,630 4,837 5,158 Croatia 5,831 6,544 6,944 7,409 7,912 8,647 Czech Rep. 4,666 5,194 4,579 5,076 6,061 6,336 Greece 13,096 14,057 14,180 13,969 13,313 14,276 Hungary 12,212 10,048 Serbia/Montenegro 239 351 448 481 580 725 Slovakia 1,053 1,219 1,399 1,387 1,401 1,515 Slovenia 1,090 1,219 1,302 1,373 1,499 1,555 1,615 Turkey 9,586 10,783 12,790 13,341 16,826 20,273 18,916 Ukraine 6,431 9,174 10,517 12,514 15,629 Source: UNWTO


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9.1.4 Market Segments and Profile of Visitation

There is no existing data to permit a market segmentation analysis to be conducted of overseas visitors. The only sources are a number of ad hoc studies – detailed below – and the official accommodation statistics contained in Romanian Tourism in Figures, 2006 edition, Romanian National Institute of Statistics. The visitor studies examined were:

� Survey of Visitor Profile, November 2006 – USAID/Enterprise Development Strengthening – sample of 2,268 foreign visitors interviewed in August 2006 at five Romanian tourist centres

� Survey of Visitor Profile, December 2005 – USAID/Enterprise Development Strengthening – sample of 625 foreign visitors interviewed in October 2005 at Bucharest Henry Coanda Airport

� Programme of Market Research - Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis Tourist Demand, 2004/2005 – INCDT (National Institute for Research and Development in Tourism)

As a starting point, a pattern of overseas visitation can be developed from accommodation registrations and overnights by location area. Over 70% of registrations and almost three-fifths of nights spent by foreign visitors are in Bucharest and other county residence towns. This indicates that a high proportion of overseas visitors are business travellers, though many discretionary travellers will also be included saying overnight at their gateway into/out of Romania. There is an interesting variation in the pattern of seaside and mountain resort visitation, with a longer average stay recorded at the Black Sea than in mountain resorts i.e. average of over 7 nights as against little more than 2 nights, suggesting that foreigners visiting the coast do so as their principal destination, while many mountain resort visits are part of a circuit of other locations. The figures for two categories ‘Bucharest and other county residence towns’ and ‘other localities & tourism routes’ will include not only business and official visitors, and those staying at their gateways, but also foreign visitors on short breaks for shopping, event participation or sightseeing purposes, those on cultural/heritage round tours, those engaged on ecotourist activities (other than in the Danube Delta which is recorded separately), and visitors to friends and relatives (VFR). Table 9.3: Foreign Tourist Registrations and Overnights, by Location, 2005 Location Accommodation registrations Overnights ‘000 % of total ‘000 % of total Seaside 88.2 6.2 634.0 18.3 Spas 36.4 2.5 148.2 4.3 Mountain resorts 112.7 7.9 263.4 7.6 Danube Delta 22.9 1.6 46.0 1.3 Bucharest & other county residence towns

1,019.6 71.3 2,060.3 59.5

Other localities & tourism routes

150.2 10.5 312.2 9.0

TOTAL 1,429.9 100.0 3,464.1 100.0


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Note: columns may not aggregate to given total owing to rounding Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures, 2006 edition, Romanian National Institute of Statistics

In attempting to develop an analysis of foreign visitor flow by purpose of visit, it is necessary to take account of:

� the fact that the volume of arrivals at frontiers are four times greater than foreign guest accommodation registrations, a fact that can be explained to a large extent – but not completely - by the fact that day trippers from neighbouring countries are included in the former data series;

� recognising – and making due allowance for the fact that – accommodation registrations are not equivalent to visitor levels as the result of multiple registrations of certain categories of visitor, in particular those on round tours.

Allowing for an average of 1.5 accommodation registrations per guest produces a total foreign tourist guest figure of close to 1 million a year. In very broad terms, the consultants estimate the split by principal segment to be as follows for 2005:

� seaside 6%, or 60,000 visitors � spas 3%, or 30,000 visitors � winter sports 3.5%, or 35,000 visitors � ecotourism 2.5%, or 25,000 visitors � round tours 20%, or 200,000 visitors � VFR 15%, or 150,000 visitors � short breaks – various purposes – 10%, or 100,000 � business/official 40%, or 400,000 visitors

The USAID five-centre foreign visitor survey of 2006 indicated a breakdown by purpose of visit somewhat at odds with that produced from the analysis of accommodation registrations. The USAID survey indicated that holiday/recreation/leisure purposes accounted for 60% of visitors, VFR for 12%, business for 12% and other purposes for 16%. The one-in-six visitors falling outside the three main purpose of visit categories serves to confuse analysis. However, it is clear that structuring the research sample to include four tourist attraction sites where the level of visitation by business tourists is likely to be low, serves to bias the overall sample against business tourists. It should also be noted that only reported registrations at official accommodation establishments are recorded by the Institute of Statistics. It is apparent that a significant number of accommodation establishments are either not registered or choose not to report their guest data on the regular, monthly basis as they are legally required to do; while certain categories of visitors, especially those visiting friends and relatives, do not stay in commercial accommodation. The incompleteness of the accommodation data tends to boost the business visitor share of total inflows. In practice, then, the share of business in total inbound tourism to Romania is probably somewhere between the 40% estimated on the basis of the accommodation statistics and the 12% arising from the sample from the USAID survey. Key visitor profile findings from the USAID survey can be summarised as follows:

� a young profile with 31% of the total sample aged between 20 and 29, and a further 25% between 30 and 39;

� 60% of the sample were on their initial visit to Romania, though, if only discretionary purposes visitors are considered, this proportion rises to 76%;


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� comparing the sources of travel information consulted both for all overseas travel and for travel to Romania shows that while the internet was the most frequently used source, its importance for Romania was slightly lower, with recommendations from friends/relatives and travel guidebooks relatively more important. For discretionary purpose visitors, 24% of the sample used the internet for travel information on Romania as against 28% normally when planning overseas travel. The gap is greater for business travellers – i.e. 24% for travel information on Romania as against 34% for travel information on other destinations.

Table 9.4: Main Sources of Travel Information

French % German % British % Source All Romania All Romania All Romania Travel guidebook 24 27 20 21 22 25 Friends/relatives 24 27 22 27 17 26 Internet 28 22 27 24 34 24 Previous visit 6 8 7 7 4 8 Travel agent/tour op. 9 8 7 5 9 7 Others 9 8 17 16 14 10 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: USAID Foreign Visitor Survey – 2006

� the choice of accommodation varied according to purpose of visit: business

visitors prefer 4/5 star hotels (47% of the sample), followed by 1/3 star hotels (26%), with all other forms of accommodation accounting for 27%; by contrast pleasure visitors first choice is 1/3star hotels (31%), followed by guesthouse/B & B (23%) and 4/5 star hotels (15%), and other forms of accommodation (31%);

� three-out-of-four pleasure tourists in the USAID survey made their own travel arrangements with only 20% using a tour operator/travel agent from their country of origin;

� satisfaction levels were scored on a scale of 1 (excellent) to 5 (very poor). Romania scored between 2 and 3 on all aspects and for all purposes of visit. The best scores were for accommodation, restaurants and attractions/museums; while the poorest ratings were accorded to information services, local transportation, and shopping.

� in overall terms, visitors rated their stay in Romania as good (1.9), with over 60% stating that their visit had met expectations, 35% that it exceeded expectations and less than 5% that it was below expectations;

� over three-quarters would recommend a holiday in Romania to their friends or family.

The extensive INCDT programme of market research covered both foreign and domestic tourism and provides profile information for the various types of tourist location in the country. Key findings are: Spas: 93% of guests in the country’s spas are Romanian with the small volumes of foreign tourists coming mainly from Israel, Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Spain. Foreign tourist preference is for general relaxation rather than the


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medicinal properties; and satisfaction with existing facilities – in particular the entertainment provided – is low. The over 50s are the main guest group for spas. Mountain resorts: the ratio between domestic and foreign tourists at mountain resorts is 88:12. Younger age groups predominate – one third are aged 20-34, and 34% between 35 and 49. They are relatively adventurous and interested in entertainment rather than creature comforts. 70% choose the mountains for rest and relaxation. The greatest areas of dissatisfaction for foreign visitors to the mountains are the quality of services and poor road/transport. Coastal tourism: the ratio of domestic and foreign tourists to the coastal resorts is 87.5:12.5 with Germans and French tourists being the main overseas sources of visitors. The most important age group is 35-49 accounting for almost 40%, followed by the 20-34 age group with 32%, particularly young families. The main areas for improvement are noted as: modernisation of room and other accommodation facilities, diversification of leisure activities available, cleaning & maintenance of beaches, provision of specially-assigned places for smokers, reconditioning of the ruins of the old city and other historic attractions, and modernisation of wastewater amenities. Danube Delta: the ratio of domestic and foreign visitors is recorded as 75:25 though it should be noted that the sample size was small i.e. 122. Younger age groups are to the fore i.e. 42% aged 20-34. Overall satisfaction levels are good though improvements are necessary in respect of the diversification of leisure facilities. The consultants’ enquiries among Romanian travel operators and individuals suggest that the Danube Delta has little appeal to middle and working class Romanians for holiday visits. It is, however, quite extensively used by Romanian businesses for team building and training seminars. County residence cities: the domestic to foreign visitor ratio was 56:44. The main source countries of foreign visitors are: Germany, Italy, France, UK, USA and Holland. The middle age group of 35-49 is the most important for foreign visitors accounting for 49% – reflecting the importance of business travellers to these locations – while for Romanians the main age groups are 20-34 at 39% and 35-49 at 38%. The further development and increased diversity of leisure and other services are called for. 9.1.5 Romanians’ Tourism Demand A number of studies have been drawn on to ascertain domestic tourism demand:

� RoTravel 2003 – national survey conducted by the National Institute for Opinion Studies and Marketing (INSOMAR)

� INCDT study referenced in section 1.4 Interviews with local travel operators have also been important in developing a profile of Romanian tourist activities and trends. Starting with the National Institute of Statistics’ breakdown of accommodation registrations by location within Romania, it is apparent that local demand dominates foreign custom – by a factor of 3:1 in terms of registrations and by over 4:1 for overnights. There is a different pattern of demand by location between Romanians and overseas guests. While the county residence towns category is the main one both for local and


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foreign demand, it accounts for a lower proportion of Romanian than foreign accommodation registrations i.e. 40% and 71% respectively. By contrast, there is a much higher level of demand among Romanians than from overseas visitors for accommodation in mountain areas, spas and coastal resorts.

Table 9.5: Domestic Tourist Registrations and Overnights, by Location, 2005

Location Accommodation registrations Overnights ‘000 % of total ‘000 % of total Seaside 625.3 14.3 3,393.2 22.7 Spas 613.7 14.0 5,155.7 34.6 Mountain resorts 715.2 16.3 1,749.1 11.7 Danube Delta 54.1 1.2 105.2 0.7 Bucharest & other county residence towns

1,736.1 39.7 3,118.1 20.9

Other localities & tourism routes

630.8 14.4 1,387.6 9.3

TOTAL 4,375.2 100.0 14,908.9 100.0 Note: columns may not aggregate to given total owing to rounding Source: Romanian Tourism in Figures, 2006 edition, Romanian National Institute of Statistics

The 2003 RoTravel study found that the main holiday choices of Romanians were the seaside and mountains. Just 5% indicated a foreign holiday – a position that is understood to have changed significantly over recent years with many destinations now actively promoting in Romania and following the country’s EU accession.

Table 9.6: Holiday Preferences of Romanians

Type of Holiday % choosing, excluding no response/don’t know Seaside 21.0 Mountains 16.7 Rest at home 15.6 Work at home 15.0 Spa 9.2 Visit friends/relatives 7.6 Romanian tourist circuit 6.5 Travel to foreign country 4.4 Visit beautiful places & monuments 1.4 Others 2.6 Total 100.0 Source: RoTravel 2003, INSOMAR

The leading foreign destinations at the time of the RoTravel survey were reported as Hungary, Italy, Germany, France, Greece and Bulgaria but over two-thirds of respondents had never been overseas on holiday. Among the various development programmes supported by the Ministry of Tourism, there was widespread support for the creation of a Dracula Park, 60% of respondents believing that such a development would boost tourism. Priority actions were seen as: increasing tourist comfort (44%), protecting natural landscapes and environment (23%), improving access roads (17%) and introducing new forms of entertainment (9%).


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Qualitative enquiries with NTA personnel, Romanian hoteliers and travel organisers suggest the following principal Romanian holiday market segments: Most affluent – elite:

� hunting � holidays with friends in the Prahova valley, Braeza – the “Davos of Romania” and

capital of golf � Delta Nature Resort � wine tasting (Transylvania, Moldova, Crsana, Maramures)

Young professionals – cultural tourism combined with ecotourism:

� Transylvania � Maramures � Bucovina � Black Sea coast � Danube Delta

Middle class families:

� Prahova valley � Black Sea coast � visits with friends to neighbourhood locations giving access/exposure to nature

e.g. May 1st holiday � visits to parents at Christmas and Easter

Working class:

� Black Sea coast � holidays in the countryside – either with relatives or staying in pensions � visits with friends to neighbourhood locations giving access/exposure to nature

e.g. May 1st holiday � visits to parents at Christmas and Easter

Older couples:

� visits to children in urban areas � social programmes e.g. “a week of recovery”, “a week on the Black Sea coast” � visiting monasteries – locally or further afield (e.g. Bucovina) � museums, castles

Young people – typically in groups

� Black Sea coast, especially Costinesti, 2 Mai, Vama Veche � active tourism in the Carpathians � Danube Delta � camps e.g. Eforie Nord, Navodari, Medieval Transylvania, Ranca in the Parang

Mountains – Gorj County, Sancrai in the neighbourhood of Covasna, Bucovina, Soveja in the neighbourhood of Focasni, and Slanic Prahova in the neighbourhood of Slanic.

There are important variations in the leisure travel patterns between rich and poor people. The clientele for spa resorts is almost exclusively domestic – principally older people on low incomes using the social security-funded bilete system. The image of spa resorts among the remainder of the Romanian population is not good, the association


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being that such facilities are poorly maintained and not geared towards the needs and expectations of younger people. The less affluent tend not to stay in hotels because they cannot afford the cost. They stay instead in apartments, pensions or camps. There are widespread reports both from travel agents and from public officials in resorts of a black market in pensions that are unregistered and, therefore, excluded from the official statistics for accommodation. Key characteristics of Romanian leisure travel are identified as:

� liking for travel in groups – family, friends, colleagues, � fun and entertainment-seeking – expressing their Latin spirit, � desire for good – traditional – food, and wine � strong interest in knowing more about their own country – leading to good rates

of future demand growth for touring circuit tourism, � declining interest in spas which will only be arrested with upgrading and targeting

of the different operations to specific market segments e.g. for both the leisure and business (i.e. conferences, training) segments,

� rapidly growing interest in mountain winter sports across most sections of Romanian society.

9.1.6 Market Perceptions and Competitive Standing 9.1.6.1 Foreign Visitors The series of market surveys conducted through the NTA during 2006 probed the image of, and attitudes towards, Romania on the part of the populations of 15 tourist generating countries. Separate response was elicited from those who:

� had previously visited Romania, � were interested in visiting Romania, and who � had no interest in visiting Romania.

Additionally, research conducted in 2002 by the US Romania Tourist Office with US tour operators was also reviewed. There is considerable variation between the countries in their perception of Romania. In certain countries, such as the UK and France, negative associations are made with Romania, mainly driven by media coverage in those countries. The proportionate division recorded between negative, neutral and positive associations among the French sample were 49%, 32% & 2% (with the remainder not holding an opinion) though three-quarters of the sample considered themselves to be badly-informed about holiday possibilities in Romania. The French example is the most extreme. Generally speaking, market perceptions are not overwhelmingly negative e.g. while the highest spontaneous association of Romania among British respondents was of poverty/austerity, this was held by less than one-in-five included in the survey, and positive associations such as culture/folklore/history, skiing/mountains and Black Sea/Danube also scored well. In Germany, the same picture emerges – 15% of the sample spontaneously associates Romania with poverty, but this is lower than the 18% associating the country with the Black Sea.


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The principal finding across all the surveys is that the perception of Romania as a tourism destination is unclear; it has no reputation as a bona fide destination for discretionary tourists. This is caused in part by:

� deficiencies in marketing & promoting the destination, � absence of governmental support for tourism, � unprofessional tourism business sector practices, � poor visitor service standards, � inadequate tourism infrastructure, facilities and amenities.

The most positive attitudes towards Romania are found among Israelis, over a quarter of whom mention “beautiful landscape” as their first impression and only 2% citing “poverty”. There is considerable variance between the attitudes of those who have direct experience of Romania having visited the country and those who do not. The former have more strongly positive opinions about Romania than the latter group. To give an example, Hungarians who have visited Romania comment on tourism infrastructure that exceeded their expectations and the beauty of the countryside and warmth of hospitality; by contrast, non-visitors have negative impressions about roads, accommodation facilities, public security, hygiene, and levels of service. The Austrian research found that visitors were “positively surprised” when travelling to Romania. Even among the French, the finding was that Romania “improves on acquaintance”. However, visitors to Romania typically also comment on the low level of apparent environmental protection, high littering etc. Price levels are perceived across all markets as being low in Romania. This can be both positive for tourism development and a problem. While low prices can provide the stimulus for the sector to grow, a destination that becomes well-known as a “cheap” destination will experience difficulty in gaining market acceptance when it attempts to diversify into higher categories of attractions and facilities. Low prices should not comprise an important component of Romania’s destination marketing strategy. The consequence of weak information about, and knowledge of, Romania’s tourist attractions and product offering is that travel intentions are relatively low compared with competing destinations. Of those in the survey sample without past experience of visiting Romania, considerably less than a half are definitely interested in a future holiday visit i.e.

� British 27% (with a further 27% who “might be interested” as against 45% for Bulgaria, 40% for Croatia, 38% for the Czech Republic, 36% for Russia, 32% for Hungary, and 28% for Poland)

� French 39% (as against 60% for Hungary, 59% for Croatia, 53% for Russia, 52% for Poland, 50% for Bulgaria and 49% for the Czech Republic)

� Italians 16% (with a further 16% who answered “maybe”) � Germans 3% in next three years (plus 16% “maybe”) � Hungarians 32% all purposes (“definitely” or “probably”) � Austrians 20% (with a further 38% stating “possibly”) � Israelis 35% � Danes 37% of those not previously been to Romania (50% of previous

visitors)


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NB. The composition of the samples and formulation of questions varied between the surveys, so the results cannot be directly compared. In particular, note that the German survey related to the total population and focused specifically on holiday visits in the short term. Examination of the reasons for non-visitation intentions reveals that the predominant answers related to:

� lack of information/knowledge, � absence of positive destination marketing, and � fears about tourism infrastructure, facilities, amenities and service.

Of those stating an intention/interest to visit Romania on holiday, a number of key characteristics emerge. First, cultural/heritage tours based on Transylvania is a main interest across all markets e.g. 41% of Italians expressing an interest to visit Romania wish to make this type of visit. For the German, Scandinavian and French markets, the Black Sea coast remains a strong area of interest . Second – and in contrast to the first point – many Europeans interested in visiting Romania are from younger age groups e.g. among the French survey respondents indicating an interest in spending a holiday in Romania 23% were aged 25-34 (as against 19% of this age group in the total sample). In the UK, “possible visitors” to Romania - i.e. those to whom marketing activities need to be targeted in order to convert their interest into demand – are more activity-oriented than those who say they would visit Romania. The UK market survey report highlights the opportunity to target:

� explorers (i.e. independent travellers wanting unique destinations) � adventure travellers, and � students.

Third, activity holidays are a strong minority interest e.g. among Italians 20% want to take a hiking holiday, 14% to go on a canoe trip in the Danube, and 9% to pursue their interests in water sports, winter sports or other sports such as horseback riding. 9.1.6.2 Romanian Tourists Romanians consider hotels in the country – particularly at the Black Sea coast - to be expensive offering mediocre service – when compared, for example, with Bulgarian Black Sea coast resort properties. This is leading those who can afford to do so to go overseas for their seaside holidays – with Bulgaria and Turkey especially favoured. An example was given that the cost of a Turkish all-inclusive 4 star hotel stay is the same as at a Romanian Black Sea coast 3 star property offering half board – with superior service at the Turkish resort. Certainly foreign destinations are highly active in promoting to the Romanian consumer as witnessed at the Tourism Fair of Romania (29 March -1 April 2007) where:

� stands were sponsored by overseas countries/regions (such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece – several prefectures, and Hungary), as well as by private sector hoteliers and travel operators from these countries e.g. as least seven from Turkey, four from Greece, and three from Hungary, while


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� Romanian tour operators and representatives of foreign tour operators had stands offering trips to at least 36 overseas destinations through agencies such as Butterfly Tourism, Magellan Travel, Go Travel, Marshal Turism, Paralela 45, J’Info Tours, Eximtur, Romantic Travel, Perfect Tour, CMB Travel, Kartago Tours, Carpe Diem Travel, MTM Travel, Imola Tours, Universal Turism, SC Altours, Paradise Travel Agency, Sens Travel, Balkan Travel, Donaris Tours, Delta Club, Mister Go, Big Travel, Best Comtur, Best Reisen, Family Travel, Kusadasi Tours, Oniro, Grafos, Prestige Tours, Romadria Confort, Blue Line, Accent Travel & Events, Malta Travel, Calibra, Itextur, Tunisiana Travel, Ali Baba Tour, and Cocktail Holidays.

The extensive offering of overseas holidays was confirmed at the Bucharest Tourism Fair 5-6 May 2007 which was dominated by tour operators promoting foreign destination programmes. Figures for the summer 2006 overseas holiday travel by Romanians were presented in the travel agents’ association’s magazine. It was estimated that around 400,000 Romanians booked overseas holidays through travel agencies, a rise of at least 30% over the corresponding period of 2005, when National Institute of Statistics data record 381,613 outbound holiday visits (through all types of travel arrangement) with 58% of these being for VFR reasons. The majority of 2006 outbound package holidays were through charter flights and bus/coach – the latter being particularly used for travel to Bulgarian resorts and for touring circuits in Europe through Italy and France. In 2006, around 25 travel agencies offered charter flights – alone or in partnership – featuring eight countries and 19 destinations, with those to Tenerife, Corfu and Cyprus being the most successful.

Table 9.7: Leading Overseas Holiday Destinations for Romanians, Summer 2006

Destination Romanian holidaymakers Greece 120,000 – of which 50,000 by charter Bulgaria 100,000 – mainly by coach or own car European circuit (France-Italy) 100,000 – coach Turkey 30,000 – charter flights on all-inclusive packages Spain 25,000 – charter Tunisia 12,000 Malta 5,000 Egypt 3,000 Cyprus 2,000

Source: ANAT MEDIA, October 2006

In addition to the countries featured in table 7 other destinations to which holidays were booked via travel agents using scheduled flights included: Dubai, Thailand, South America (e.g. Brazil); while low cost carriers have boosted city break traffic to destinations such as Paris, Rome, Milan, Venice, Barcelona, Vienna, Budapest and Istanbul – the final three being principally for the purposes of shopping. The analysis presented in the preceding paragraphs indicates that the pattern of Romanians’ holidaymaking is changing – no longer is he/she “captive” for domestic destinations. The interest in, and taste for, foreign holidays is growing – and growing


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rapidly e.g. travel operators report a likely doubling of holiday tourism to Turkey in 2007 over 2006. The implications for Romanian hoteliers and operators are that their offers will be increasingly critically scrutinised in respect both of:

� quality, and � price.

9.2 Effectiveness of National Tourism Authority Marketing Strategy and Activities

The primary findings are that:

1. the NTA does not have a clear market development strategy based on full and deep understanding of market characteristics and trends;

2. there is no full quantitative or qualitative databank of information on main tourist source markets, a fact that, combined with the failure to use the findings of the 15 market surveys undertaken in 2005/6, means that the NTA does not have a coherent marketing and promotional strategy or programme, based on detailed understanding or ranking of source markets;

3. the mix of current marketing and promotional activities (i.e. offices abroad, tourism fair participation, website, collateral materials, advertising) is not coordinated or designed in realisation of a clear development strategy. Marketing and promotional activities are undertaken with an ad hoc, scattergun approach;

4. offices abroad report that they receive neither strategic direction in respect of market positioning and segmentation targeting, nor adequate support for their operations e.g. through hosting media and travel industry visits to Romania. Similarly, they state that their future plans and budget requests are not responded to swiftly (e.g. budget application made end December, no response received by end March); while the transfer of monthly payments to cover salary and administration costs are sometimes late – by as much as a month;

5. there is no system of evaluation or performance benchmark criteria in place for offices abroad – so it is not possible to ascertain the effectiveness of their activities;

6. the street-level, walk-in “shop” premises used by destinations’ offices abroad is a system of representation that is being widely replaced. This is in recognition of the fact that there is a rapidly growing computer-literate consumer in tourist generating markets, who is increasingly using website research and booking engines for his/her travel requirements. Serving these consumers’ queries can best be achieved through electronic means supplemented with phone and mail.

Significant cost savings can be made in switching from street level premises, both in terms of rents and the fact that non-street-level premises can be more efficiently operated by a single person. This in contrast to street front sites that need multiple personnel to avoid closing the office at times when visits are made away from the office to travel operators etc.

In the UK, for example, Scotland moved from its long-standing street-level site in the centre of the city following a fall in personal visitation from 300,000 a year a decade ago to 50,000 in 2006, with the volume of hits on its website rising to 16 million a year. Croatia has opted for an office in an


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inner city suburb office block, equipped with the most modern electronic communications systems. At the same time, there is a trend away from using personnel from the destination country to marketing professionals, and marketing representation firms, of the source market – on the grounds that the latter have better linguistic skills, market knowledge (especially important when dealing with the travel trade) and marketing technique/tool experience;

7. Romania is not represented strongly on tourism websites: the style and design of www.turism.ro is dated in appearance and contains erroneous information (though is presently being upgraded); www.romaniatravel.com is not up-to-date with tourist events for 2005 still detailed on the site; www.romaniatourism.com is a site developed by the US office and available only in English; while the country is not as well represented on other relevant websites as are competitor countries such as Croatia;

8. the extensive and recently expanded programme of attendance at tourism fairs is not monitored or evaluated in terms of criteria such as increased tourism flow/income, or new tour operator contacts made. The impact and effectiveness of participation at tourism fairs is, thus, unknown;

9. there is insufficient exposure of Romania and its tourist product offering in the media of main tourist source markets, leading to – at best – an unclear perception of the country as a serious and bona fide tourist destination. In consequence, there is little groundswell of demand from the public which tour operators expect before actively considering the introduction of new programmes to the country;

10. the range of collateral materials is vast but many items meet a very small market need and/or are of a design that is considered as “old-fashioned” by consumers in western markets;

11. there is a shortage of in-depth knowledge among tour operator and travel agency personnel in the main tourist source markets of Romania and its tourist product offering. These personnel cannot “sell” a destination of which they have at best a superficial knowledge;

12. Romania does not have either a clear or strong image in the marketplace, and its destination branding gives mixed messages. “Simply surprising” encaptures the fact that visitors typically find their experiences in the country exceed their expectations but fails to recognize that surprises can also be unpleasant – a fact that can serve to magnify even small problems out of proportion;

13. the NTA is not positively regarded either by the Romanian private sector or by regional or local administrations around the country. This may be because of a combination of inappropriate structures and systems of communication, inadequacy of technical skills, the political system of the appointment of the top-level posts, or other factors. Left unchanged in terms of structure, personnel and systems, the NTA will not achieve the necessary close and productive working partnerships necessary to lead the establishment of Romania as a major tourism destination.

It is, thus, clear that the NTA has structural, communications systems and technical deficiencies in respect of the design and execution of its national tourism destination marketing and promotional responsibilities. The Master Plan research programme did not incorporate detailed research either in tourist source markets or with individual NTA personnel on their work responsibilities or


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procedures. Assessments are, therefore, based on our understanding of trends in international tourist market preferences and destination marketing practices. The following observations are made as a contribution towards understanding why the present difficulties have arisen. Changes of leadership. The lack of continuity and consistency in the presidency of the NTA leads to poor follow-through of work commenced under one leadership by the next. In consequence, on one hand, there is a loss of much valid work and duplication of effort; while, paradoxically on the other, there is tendency for an unquestioning acceptance of certain approaches e.g. attendance at travel fairs abroad, maintenance of network of offices abroad. Overall direction and strategy. No clear or detailed statement of strategic direction exists either for the overall development of tourism, or governing the design and execution of the marketing and promotional campaigns carried out in domestic and foreign markets. This is occasioned in large part because of the frequent changes in the top posts within the NTA, and the fact that the most senior posts are filled through political appointment rather than professional recruitment. It is important to note that the issue of a lack of strategic direction has been recognised and the present Tourism Master Plan is intended to be a key input to the formulation of future tourism development and marketing strategy. Coordination. Marketing and promotional activities are selected on an ad hoc basis at the initiative of individual personnel. This was especially apparent in the case of the use of the supplementary budget funds in markets abroad in the second half of 2006. The choice of activities on which to spend the funds allocated was largely left to the offices’ individual managers with little or no coordination. Indeed, as pointed out by one of the office managers, even the business cards of the personnel of the various offices have different designs.

Weak perception within Romania. The NTA is generally negatively regarded by both regional/municipal administrations and the Romanian tourism private sector on the grounds of being “out of touch” with their needs and developments. In consequence, there are many locally-supported tourism developments that are proceeding without the NTA being included in the information loop. It appears, for example, that there is minimal communication between the NTA and the Bucharest mayor’s office, a situation that results in the NTA having limited information on developments in its own capital city. In respect of marketing and promotional activities, there is often a conflict between what the private sector believes is needed and what the NTA – driven to a large extent by political considerations – decides to finance. Market statistics and data bank. The absence of a directional strategy for tourism development and marketing is largely the result of the shortage of quantitative and qualitative information on major tourist source markets – including domestic tourists. This is partly as a result of the inadequate statistical reporting of foreign visitation to Romania but also because of the weak system of information exchange communication between head office and the offices abroad.


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In consequence, there is a notable absence of either research-based justification for the marketing and promotional activities selected to be undertaken by the NTA’s Promotions Division or any detailed monitoring, assessment and evaluation of these activities against pre-specified targets and criteria. Technical deficiencies. It is matter of concern that little use of the series of 15 international market surveys conducted in the past two years has been made in shaping future destination marketing and promotion strategy – these reports contain much valid analysis that can be used in positioning and segment targeting. This is seriously under-utilised resource. While there can be a number of explanations, it would appear that there is a shortage of technical expertise in the Promotions Department to interpret market research and convert these analyses into targeted marketing and promotional programmes. Tourism Fairs Abroad. There is concern about NTA tourism fair participation in a number of respects: first, the number of fairs abroad attended by NTA personnel; the layout, design and operation of the stands; second, the question of how to assess the results obtained from the fairs; third, the system of support for the participation of private sector personnel; and, finally, the ways in which the stands are manned and visitors received and provided with information. This is another area where a detailed study is required leading to:

� a revised procedure for deciding on the selection of fairs at which to participate,

� the definition of assessment and evaluation criteria against which the cost of participation should be measured,

� the establishment of a system requiring attendance and active participation by private sector personnel as a condition for the financial support they receive from state funds, and

� a requirement for participating NTA personnel to be trained and qualified in effective operation at tourism fairs, according to established procedures.

Website Development. There are a number of websites dealing with tourism in Romania. The Ministry’s own website www.mturism.ro is available only in Romanian language and is principally an information rather than promotional tool. The promotional sites are: www.turism.ro available in four languages (i.e. Romanian, English, French, Italian) but with outdated material e.g. the list of offices abroad features some that have been closed and gives the address of the UK office as that which they moved from in March 2000; www.romaniatravel.com again in four languages but not up-to-date with tourist events for 2005 still detailed on the site; and www.romaniatourism.com a site developed by the US office and available only in English. In addition there are many independent sites that prospective visitors use for information and research. Romania is absent from www.europe-travelers.eu, Lonely Planet, and other well-known traveler websites. Registration on some home pages is free of charge, while on others the cost is minimal. The consultants understand that the upgrading of the NTA’s promotional site was being supported through USAID but that this activity became stalled when the NTA officer responsible went on maternity leave. We understand that the process of redevelopment


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of the site has recommenced with the new site likely to be launched later in 2007. In order better to communicate with and inform the independent traveler, this must an absolute priority, as should be the registration and subscription to other relevant travel and tourism sites. Brochures and other Printed Materials. With increased consumer use of websites to research their prospective destination, and a growth in the number of travel guidebooks, there is less need for brochures on different regions and themes related to the tourism product. Indeed, many destinations now concentrate on a single brochure with smaller leaflets on new or emerging destinations, themes etc. A total of over 30 brochures, guide books, leaflets and maps were produced in 2006. All 13 brochures, the Romania Practical Guide, the George Enescu Festival and Ancient Fortresses leaflets and the series of maps were all produced in four languages i.e. Romanian, English, French, German; most were also made in Italian and Spanish; while a number were also in Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Dutch, Hungarian and Hebrew. In total over 2 million pieces of print were produced. This relates solely to 2006: considerable stocks still exist of titles produced in previous years. On top of this are the brochures and other print items produced by the tourism associations (e.g. related to ecotourism, spas and bed and breakfast), local authorities and private sector operators. This volume of brochures is simply too great creating confusion rather than clarity in the marketplace. The NTA brochures are characterized by a number of failings:

� an excess of text with few and relatively poor quality photographic illustrations,

� a surfeit of titles, some of which overlap and do not always contain consistent information, and

� design and quality of paper and production that is dated by western standards.

Destination collateral materials serve two purposes: as a sales tool to persuade a prospective visitor to choose the destination; and to provide information about it. At present, however, brochures are not used in a professional, targeted way; they are handed out by staff at fairs to anyone who puts their hand out, being used, one suspects, as a means of covering up their lack of detailed product knowledge. The pressing need is for Romania to have a state-of-the-art website supplemented by a set of dynamic collaterals that provide a clear identity of the destination through common stylistic designs. As a maximum, there should be a high quality national tourist brochure and a series related to each of the primary product areas i.e. culture/heritage, ecotourism, short breaks, health and wellness, seaside and water sports, mountains and winter sports. Beyond that, individual cities, regions etc. within the country should be responsible for producing their own collaterals – as well as other marketing tools such as websites – but encouraged to follow the NTA’s stylistic designs. There is considerable scope between the NTA, regional/local authorities and private sector operators to work together on brochures. Network of offices abroad. The consultants conclude that the network of offices abroad should be subject to detailed review and assessment in respect of:

� the number and countries in which they are located;


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� the selection of premises within the country i.e. street level vs. office premises;

� use of own tourist office vs. contracting market representation firm; � use of Romanian vs. source market national personnel; and � appropriate assessment and evaluation criteria related to their effectiveness

in generating increased tourist flows to Romania. Consider the figures for arrivals from each of the markets in which Romania has tourist offices, the growth rate of recent years and the cost of operation of the office in 2006 these are presented in table 9.8. In overall terms the marketing investment per arrival generated - below Euros 2 (all destinations considered) and Euros 5 (excluding the neighbouring source countries, the flows from which are dominated by day trippers) - is not high. The average expenditure by the 47 countries considered in the UNWTO report Structures and Budgets of National Tourism Organizations, 2004/5 is Euros 2.30. The investment can be justified in countries with large populations with good levels of discretionary disposable income and free time and with an established pattern of holiday taking abroad. The wisdom of investing in new “opportunity” markets like Japan and China is not challenged since the type of cultural/heritage tour offered through Transylvania is likely to be very popular in these markets. What is challenged is the present network of offices abroad on cost-effectiveness grounds in respect of:

� the operation in small markets like Sweden and Belgium, � the use of street level, walk-in shop premises, and, in certain markets, � the operation of own tourist offices rather than using market representation

firms.

Table 9.8: Indicators of Romanian Tourist Offices Abroad Country ‘000 arrivals

2006 +/- % p.a. 2000-2006

Cost of Office(s) Euros ‘000

Cost per arrival Euro

Germany 343 +5.0 1,058 3.0 France 130 +11 660 5.1 Italy 278 +8 758 2.7 UK/Ireland 101 +10 382 3.8 USA 130 +10 753 5.8 Spain 43 +23 1,262 29.3 Belgium 27 +7 488 18.1 Austria 152 +13 746 4.9 Japan 14 n.a. 75 5.4 Russia 54 -5 216 4.0 Hungary 1,367 +4 253 0.2 Moldova 1,490 +1 34 0.02 Israel 62 +5 204 3.3 Sweden 18 +1 233 12.9 China n.a 296 n.a TOTAL (exc, China)

4,209 +3 7,418 1.8

TOTAL (exc. China, Japan, Hungary and Moldova)

1,338 +7 7,131 5.3


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Notes: a. office costs in the USA, Japan, Russia, Moldova, Israel and China converted from US $ to Euro at rate of 1.25:1 Sources: National Institute of Statistics (arrivals), NTA (office costs)

Domestic marketing and promotion. The NTA’s marketing and promotional focus in respect of the domestic Romanian leisure tourist is concentrated on three components:

� participation at tourism fairs, � printed brochures, � website, and � advertising using various media forms.

Each of these are important communication tools but are not being utilised to maximum effect. The following observations are made based on visits to the NTA stands at the two tourism fairs in Bucharest in March and May 2007:

� the NTA stand at the Romania Tourism Fair occupied an area of 350m2, cost an estimated Euros 60,000 and hosted 11 Romanian tourism associations and institutions;

� the design of the stand – framework covered by plastic covering depicting Sibiu – had a cheap appearance and there was little division of the space within the stand to provide areas for one-to-one meetings;

� with so many representatives on the site, a clear designation of use of the available space is essential – this was not the case so it was difficult to locate a participant relevant to a specific interest and the crowd of people on the stand constituted a barrier to the consumer walking by to enter the stand;

� NTA personnel did not appear to understand how to engage consumers – they typically stood holding brochures, thrusting these into the hands of people passing by or who entered the stand;

� when entering into discussion with the public, the scope of conversation was generally limited to ascertaining which brochure would be relevant to the consumer’s interest – little offer of follow up assistance was made to the mystery shopper organised by the consultants;

� demonstrations of food, drink, music and dance from the different parts of Romania should be allocated a clearly defined space and timetable.

The NTA stand at the Bucharest Tourism Fair followed a similar design – except the covering depicted Bucharest – and layout. Fewer other bodies were incorporated within the stand as compared with the Romania Tourism Fair so there was an impression of empty space. Again, the NTA personnel on duty appeared uncomfortable with their assigned tasks of talking to and assisting consumers in their enquiries while the stocks of brochures acted as their comfort zones. The choice of certain brochures seemed puzzling. For example, supplies of the Congresses and Conferences brochure were on the stand – yet this is aimed at conference organizers whereas the fair was for the general public! The advertising approach for the domestic market – using the theme “rediscover Romania” – has recently been introduced as an attempt to dissuade residents from going abroad but instead taking a domestic holiday. Public:Private Consultation and Collaboration. The NTA appears to be isolated from the different strands of the country’s tourism private sector when planning and conducting


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destination marketing and promotion activities. There are two contributory reasons: the private sector does not speak with a single voice – instead the different representative associations and bodies all seek to advance their own vested interest in dialogue with government; and, second, there is no formal consultative process between the NTA and the private sector, everything being done on the basis of ad hoc meetings frequently led by the head of the NTA rather than by the Director Promotion Division – and often, therefore, dominated by political considerations. There is, thus, a lack of regard or trust from the private sector in the NTA’s destination marketing activities – and, certainly, no incentive for the private sector to contribute monies towards the country’s marketing efforts.

Private Sector Knowledge of International Tourism Business Practices. The communications difficulties between the NTA and the private sector are not limited to the State agency. There exists within certain sections of the Romanian hotel/resort sector an ignorance of:

a) international tourism distribution systems and the standard tour operator practice of forward allocation of blocks of rooms at preferential rates; and,

b) the opportunities to transact business at tourism fairs abroad, provided that when they attend such events they are available and prepared for negotiations.


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10. Environmental Impacts The natural environment provides probably the greatest assets for Romanian tourism. The natural heritage, flora, fauna, coast, delta and mountains all provide strong reasons to visit and the opportunity for fulfilling holidays. If the environment is spoiled, or even if visitors' perception of it is damaged, these cogent reasons to visit will disappear. Environmental protection is consequently crucial to tourism. Romania has the benefit of extensive environmental protection legislation. Its record in implementing this legislation is, regrettably, not so good and many abuses of the environment are permitted. In some cases environmental degradation is the legacy of man's previous actions; in many cases recurring malpractice is evident. There are a number of areas of concern, including:

� Coastal erosion on the Black Sea, which is eating away the prime attraction of coastal tourism

� Silting of the Danube Delta and rivers, which, though a result in main of natural causes, needs speedy remedial action through dredging, etc.

� Abuse of the protected areas through unregulated logging and inappropriate construction of recreational and residential facilities

� Poor waste management, particularly in rural areas, with unprotected land fill sites and indiscriminate waste disposal

� Continued discharge of untreated waste water � The visual as well as environmental pollution of long redundant industrial sites � Litter and its collection – here a grassroots approach is needed to encourage

every individual to dispose of rubbish appropriately � The lack of a re-cycling ethos among the population at large � Excessive visitor levels in environmentally sensitive areas, heritage attractions,

etc., calling for visitor management schemes As important in the field of tourism as actual environmental problems is the perception that the environment is damaged and that the country is unconcerned about protecting its environment. This deters potential visitors. Remedial action both needs to be taken and also needs to be seen to be taken. Romanians in general are proud of their country and environment and will readily adopt beneficial environmental policies if provided with appealing campaigns – 'clean up', 're-cycling', floral, etc.


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B National Tourism Policy, Governance and Organisation

1. Tourism Policy Policy and legislation are the foundations on which the industry is built. The tourism policy and the existing legislation is reviewed and commented on in this section. This includes:

� The National Development Plan

and thirty two pieces of legislation covering:

� Organization and Performance of Tourist Activities in Romania � National Tourism Authority Establishment � Registration, classification of tourist accommodation and tourist services � Licensing of travel agencies/tour operators and tour guides � Insurance bonds for tour operators and travel agents, � Guest registration and protection in accommodation establishments, � Travel and tour operator consumer protection � Tourists’ safety � Super Ski in Carpathian Mountains � Tourism areas, resorts, Spas and the Black Sea area � Q Brand � Blue Flag

Other legislation impacting on tourism, covering such areas as the environment, transport, land improvement, coastal areas, vocational training is considered within the relevant sections of the report.

1.1 National Development Plan The National Development Plan (NDP) for economic and social development is a component of the National Economic Development Strategy. It was adopted in December 2005 and is the fundamental tool aimed at diminishing the economic and social development disparities between the European Union (EU) and Romania. The plan considers that “Romania’s tourism industry has the potential to contribute to this reduction” in disparities and includes tourism in the public development investment priorities. The general objective for the tourism sector as set out in the plan is: “The capitalization of the tourist and cultural potential of the regions and increasing the contributions of these fields to the regions' development through their rehabilitation, by 2015, of 200 tourist and cultural sites and increasing tourism’s contribution to GDP by 1.25%.”


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As already stated Tourism is identified as a development priority sector. In achieving the long term competitiveness of Romania’s tourism and improving Romania’s image, stress is laid on marketing Romania as an international tourist destination. In addition, the plan identifies tourism as a means of achieving a number of other strategic priorities, such as “improving competitiveness by improving businesses’ access to the market” by promoting specific economic products internationally and domestically through tourism. The development of a national tourism brand, the plan states, will have a contribution to the country brand, which impacts on inwards investment and current account balances. Investments in tourist infrastructure, in agricultural and rural tourism are identified as a means of contributing to supporting the balanced development of all regions of Romania, raising living standards in rural areas and diminishing the development disparities between the country’s regions. The plan identifies the majority of the main tourism resources as being located within socio-economic underdeveloped areas. It states that the stimulation of the tourism sector could lead to the revitalization of these areas, by integrating them within the tourist circuit, and eventually within the economy. Regional and rural tourism development is identified as one of the five sub-priorities in the strategy to bring about a balanced development between the country’s regions. Development of the natural and cultural heritage and activities focusing on the natural and cultural landscape are seen, in the plan, as the means of developing and promoting tourism. Tourism can create jobs in disadvantaged areas through the improvement of infrastructure and tourism services, protection of the environment and heritage, rehabilitation of existing plant and traditional resorts of special importance, and diversifying tourism offerings, developing eco-tourism, spas, winter sports, cultural and historic tourism. Family businesses and micro enterprises get special mention as they can increase occupational opportunities at local level. The Plan identifies the following key issues to be addressed to facilitate the future growth of tourism:

� Instability of the institutional framework responsible for developing tourism strategies and policies;

� Lack of cooperation between tour operators; � Low contribution of tourism to the GDP; � Insufficient tourist information and promotion; � Poor general infrastructure, mainly in terms of transportation, communications

and services; � Large number of old accommodation structures; � Low accommodation occupancy rates; � Underdevelopment of the potential to start up small and medium sized

businesses; � Underdevelopment of tourism products and focus on accommodation and meals.

The findings in the World Tourism and Travel Council report on Romania are in line with the key issues (above) identified in the National Development Plan.


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1.2 Current Legislation 1. Organization and Performance of Tourist Activities in Romania Ordinance No. 58 of 1998 for the Organization and Performance of the Tourism Activity in Romania came into force in November 1998. The legislation declared tourism as a priority in the national economy and positioned the Ministry of Tourism as the tourist authority. It defined tourism terms and expressions including; “tourism” “reception structures” “resorts”, “tourist packages” etc. In a very comprehensive manner it sets out the registration of tourist assets, identification and controls and protection of resorts, including ski resorts. The functions of the Ministry of Tourism in development, control, promotion, training and research are established. Provision is made for licensing, licensing qualifications, vocational tourism training under the authority of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Tourism. The roles of local authorities in tourism are defined, as are the obligations and rights of tourist operators - travel agents, service providers etc. The funding of safety and life guard teams are the responsibility of local administrations. Industry organizations and associations are provided for with legal authority from the Ministry responsible for tourism. Tourist areas and resorts benefit from priority status in relation to necessary infrastructure works, promotion and environment protection. Support for private initiatives is provided through state promotions of Romania and leasing of state and local administration lands. Sanctions and penalties are provided for, where:

� Unauthorized Travel Agents offer, market, sell or create tourist products � Unclassified tourist reception structures, hotels etc perform tourist activities � Misinformation is provided � Operators fail to compensate tourists for damage or for providing inferior quality � Travel agents/tour operators are not bonded

The ordinance provided for the establishment of a Consultative Council of Tourism to operate as a consultancy body to the ministry on national tourism programs and strategies. The council membership was drawn from the private sector of the industry. The Council ceased to operate in 2005. It is difficult at this stage to measure the inputs and the value of the Consultative Council to the development of tourism. Its existence did demonstrate recognition of the necessity for input from the private and commercial sectors to the formulation of policies and strategies.


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Commentary The Ordinance is, as stated already, very comprehensive and far ranging in the tourism field. While the Decision 413 of 2004 established the National Tourism Authority, subordinated to the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism, the National Tourism Authority performs its activities in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance. 2. National Tourism Authority Establishment Government Decision No. 413 of 2004 regarding the Organization and Functioning of the National Tourism Authority came into force on February 1st 2006. The legislation re-established the National Tourism Authority (NTA) as a public institution under the Ministry of Transport, Constructions and Tourism, financed from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of Transport, Constructions and Tourism. In 1998 the government tourism organization was a separate Ministry (Ministry of Tourism), with a Consultative Council of Tourism, later changing to a National Tourism Authority reporting directly to the Government. Since 2002 it has changed a number of times, - ministry, NTA under a ministry, a ministry, NTA under the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism, and most recently as a department in the Ministry of Trade, SMEs, Tourism and Liberal Professions. The following is a summary of the main responsibilities of the NTA as stated in the present legislation:

� Implements national tourism policies and strategies;

� Promotes Romania as a tourist destination in the international and domestic markets using funds approved by the Ministry;

� Organizes the registration and certification and monitors the use and protection

of the tourism heritage, according to the law;

� Drafts policies and annual marketing and development programs; � Licenses tour operators, tourist guides, etc and classifies tourist accommodation,

promoting quality control in all tourism services;

� Approves planning and construction in all tourist areas and resorts; � Coordinates the EU, UNWTO and other tourism technical assistance programs.

Article 4 states that “The expenses necessary for the activities performed by the National Tourism Authority shall be born entirely from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of Transport, Constructions and Tourism”.


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For promotion and development purposes the travel expenses for media, opinion makers and craftsmen can also be financed out of the NTA budget and the NTA can cooperate with county and local councils as well as associations in promotion and development programs. The legislation sets the maximum number of employees at 123. Within this number, and with the approval of the Ministry, the NTA can establish, fund and staff representative offices abroad. The President (State Secretary) and Vice President (Assistant State Secretary) are appointed by the Prime Minister on the proposal of the Minister. The President and Vice President are effectively the Chief Executive officer and Assistant Chief Executive Officer of the NTA. The responsibilities of the President are set out in the legislation and include personnel appointments, legal representative of the NTA, contracting, decision making and accounting for its funds. The NTA may sign agreements with foreign and domestic entities. The legislation sets out the number of vehicles for the organization and the fuel allowed for each vehicle Commentary The legislation makes no provisions for providing advice or guidance on marketing or development to third parties such as the industry and county and local authorities, or promoting development or human resources development. Article 4, which states that the NTA activities shall be funded entirely from state funds, seems to restrict the NTA from generating funds from any other sources or charging fees for licensing, publications or other services. This requires its funds, that could be better used for marketing etc., to be used for licensing and services that would be self-financing in most tourism authorities. The specification that travel expenses are allowed for media, opinion makers and craftsmen appears over restrictive as it implies that they cannot be used for other persons’ expenses. The legislative limit on the number of personnel, the number vehicles and fuel amounts appear trivial in primary legislation and restricts the organization in responding to workload and performance demands. 3. Classification of Tourist Establishments Decision No. 1328 of December 27 2001 Classification of accommodation and catering establishments, and


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Order No. 510 of 28 June 2002 set out the process for the classification of accommodation and catering establishment and the criteria for such classifications. The orders state that the primary aim of classification is the protection of tourists. They set penalties for contraventions of the classification requirements. Applicants for classification must produce evidence of:

� Company registration; � Sanitary-veterinary authorization; � Environmental authorization; � Fire Prevention authorization; � Labour protection authorizations; � Management and staff qualifications.

Order 510 allows for time to be given in certain circumstances for an applicant to make improvement to obtain or retain a classification. Criteria and the number of points to be obtained are set out for each classification including bed sizes, minimum temperature, information for guests and maximum tariffs posted in Euro. The following classifications are provided:

� Hotels 5-1 stars � Hotel Apartments 5-2 stars � Motels 3-1 stars � Youth Hotels 3-1 stars � Hostels 3-1 stars � Villas 5-1 stars � Bungalows 3-1 stars � Tourist Cabins, Hunting Cabins, Fishing Cabins 3-1 stars � Vacation Villages 3-2 stars � Camp Sites 4-1 stars � Camping Chalets 3-1 stars � Inns 2-1 stars � Urban Guest Houses 5-1 stars � Rural Guest Houses 5-1 flowers � Apartments or Rooms for rent inside homes or within Buildings 3-1 stars � Accommodation on River or Sea Ships 5-1 stars.

Catering Facilities are classified into five categories; restaurants, bars, fast food, confectionary and patisserie. These are subdivided into 16 sub-categories and restaurants further subdivided into 10 sub-categories. Certificates of classification are issued on a three yearly basis. Provision is made for the publication of national and county lists of classified accommodation. Commentary The legislation is very comprehensive and detailed.


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An interesting clause in the licensing requirements is the exemption for private homes with a maximum of five bedrooms/apartments for rent from producing hygiene, fire and labour authorizations. This legislation appears to allow private houses with up to 5 apartments, each possibly containing 5 bedrooms, to be exempt. This exemption needs to be reconsidered. The team, in its consultations with the industry, found that un-classified or "black economy" houses catering to tourists is a major cause of complaint as constituting unfair competition for the classified accommodation providers. The number of accommodation classifications at 16 is too numerous and must be confusing for the tourist, as must also the numerous sub-categories in the catering range. The categorisation of catering establishments by the NTA is unnecessary. Health and safety are the responsibility of other organisations. The requirements for fire and hygiene safety certification and the requirement to display maximum prices in Euro are positive consumer protection requirements, as are the other specified tourist information notices. The three year timing for certificates and consequently assessments permits classifications to become out of date. 4. Tourism Licensing and Certification Decision No. 238 of February 2001, Decision No. 305 of March 2001, Order No. 170 of April 2001 and Decision No. 631 of May 2003 conferring of tourism licenses and patents to Tourism/Travel Agents, Tourist Guides, Hotel and other management personnel. This legislation provides for the licensing of Tourism Agencies and the professional certification (patent act) of the management of agencies and accommodation premises and the attestation of tourism guides. The licenses are issued for three years but may be suspended or revoked by the NTA for certain infringements. The criteria for the tourism licenses for agencies and certificates for operators and management are detailed and, according to the legislation, were established following consultations with the relevant professional and industry associations and trade unions. The holders of the following positions require certificates:

� Manager of Tourism Activity � Tour Operator Agency manager � Retail Tour Operator Agency Manager � Hotel, Motel, Camping Manager with more that 100 bed spaces � Restaurant Manager of Class 1 and Luxury establishments with a seating

capacity of more than 50 diners at tables


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� Chalet Administrator Decision 305 of 2001 makes it obligatory for agencies to use only qualified guides, which are categorized as follows for touring activity in Romania:

� Local Guide, for limited territory � National Guide, for national territory and abroad � Specialized Guide, for certain segments of touring activity

Decision No. 631 0f 2003 extended the issuing of guide certificates (to work in Romania) to citizens of EU states and the European Economic Area. Applicants for such certificates must produce proof of qualifications issued by authorized institutions in their home states. Foreign guides are allowed to accompany, as guides, groups of foreign tourists visiting Romania without obtaining a Romanian certificate. Penalties are provided for infringements including the use by agencies of non certified guides. Commentary The legislation for licensing and certification of agencies, tourism management and guides is comprehensive and with the provision of good training of the assessors and proper implementation assists in obtaining good standards. 5. Insurance for tourists in cases of bankruptcy or insolvency of travel agencies (Bonded Operators/Agents) ORDER No. 235 of 2001 on the Tourists Insurance in the case of Bankruptcy or Insolvency of the Travel Agency. Tour operators and retail travel agencies are required to hold insurance to cover return costs or repayments to their clients, who have purchased a package, in the event of bankruptcy or insolvency. The insurance amounts required are US$ 50,000 for tour operators and US$ 10,000 for retail travel agencies. The Order specifies that the insurers must be approved by the Ministry of Tourism (NTA) in consultation with the Insurance Supervisory Commission and that the insurers periodically transmit to the Ministry insurance policy details on all authorized agencies. Failure to have bonds for package sales can be penalized by the withdrawal of the agency license. The Order specifies the insurers and policy holders’ duties and obligations and the methodology and time scale for payments under the scheme.


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Commentary Overall the legislation is satisfactory in the cover it provides for outbound tourists. The amounts of cover required may be insufficient in today’s terms and should be revised upwards and, if possible under the Romanian legal system, be tied to inflation for the future. 6. Guest Registration in accommodation establishments and the protection of guests and their goods. Decision No. 237 of February 2001 for the approval of the Norms regarding the access, the evidence and the protection of the tourists in touring reception structures. The Decision requires all accommodation providers, hotels, motels and pensions etc. to accommodate “tourists” if there is available accommodation. The provider is required to have all guests complete an arrival/departure form. In the case of rural pensions a book may be used instead of the standard forms. The legislation sets out the information required and that the forms must be kept for five years and made available to the authorities if required. The accommodation provider is also required to ensure peace, public order and the safety and privacy of the guests and the security of their goods. Minors, under 14 years, cannot be accommodated unless accompanied by their parents or legal representative. Penalties are provided for non-compliance by the accommodation provider Commentary The requirements in the legislation are standard. However, there are two comments to be made. The use of the term “tourist” should be replaced by the term “guest” as all guests may not fit the international definition of a tourist. More important, the legislation does not provide any limitation on the accommodation provider’s liability for the loss or damage to goods belonging to guests. Such a limitation is a standard internationally, where the obligation to receive and accommodate all comers is stipulated, as it is in this legislation. 7. Tourist packages and the obligations of travel agencies and tour operators. Ordinance No. 107 of July 1999 as amended by LAW No. 631 of November 2001 regarding the tourist service packages marketing activity. The Ordinance as amended by Government Law No. 631 of 2001 puts in place legislation on the lines of the “EU Package Travel Directive” for the protection of consumers purchasing tourist packages in Romania for travel within or outside Romania. The ordinance specifies the components of a tourist package as being at least two of the following: transport; accommodation, and other service which is not a significant part of the transport or accommodation provision. It specifies the seller's obligations to the


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purchasing consumer in relation to the clarity of the offer, information on visa and other formalities, itineraries, accommodation type and standard, contractual details, terms of compensation and component replacement. The National Tourism Authority and the Office for Consumer Protection are named as the control and enforcement bodies. Commentary The Ordinance as amended is in keeping with the EU consumer protection directive on package travel. 8. Standards for the development, maintenance and exploitation of ski trails and tracks and National Program for the development of mountain tourism through central and local investment in ski facilities. Order No. 491 of October 2001 for the standards regarding the homologation, development, maintenance and exploitation of recreational skiing trails and tracks. The Order establishes the Ministry of Tourism as the authority to certify ski slopes and ski tracks and sets out the criteria and conditions for homologation, development criteria, maintenance and exploitation. It also sets out the conduct rules for skiers and other persons on recreational ski slopes and tracks. LAW No. 526 of December 2003 for the approval of the “Super-ski in the Carpathians” National Program for the Development of Mountain Tourism. The law approved by Parliament provides for a program of development of mountain tourism with particular emphasis on ski and winter sports in a range of stated locations over a staged time period. The law provides for surveys, selection of lands and the drafting of plans leading to the development and rehabilitation of infrastructure, access, services, utilities and the ski and other sports facilities as well as accommodation. Special provision is made for the transfer of lands from state, public or private property and from the National Forest Administration. Surveys and implementation plans require Government approval. The surveys are to be financed by the Ministry of Education, Research and Youth. Implementation is to be coordinated by the Ministry responsible for tourism in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Research and Youth and the National Agency for Sports. Central and local public administration authorities in public-private partnerships are designated to implement the program. Funding is to come from:

� State and local budgets � Internal and external credits � Internal and external aid programs


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� Private sector � Other sources

Commentary The legislation regulates ski slopes and tracks and the behavior of people on slopes and tracks. The legislation No. 526 has put an emphasis on winter sports development and rehabilitation in certain identified areas and provides for surveys (feasibility studies) to be completed and government approvals for the implementation of each stage. 9. Vocational Training for the Tourism Industry Ordinance No. 58 of 1998 for the organization and performance of the tourism activity in Romania Article 26 states that vocational training for tourism activities shall be performed by the private or state educational units, authorized by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Tourism. Government Ordinance No. 129 of 2000 on Adult Vocational Training, as elaborated by Decision No. 522 of 2003 and modified by Decision No. 1829 of 2004 sets out the general provisions, including the organization of vocational training, the authorization of vocational training providers, certification and financing of vocational training for adults. Commentary The laws appear adequate to provide for and control vocational education. However, the control of training institutions appears to be not fully implemented. Complaints about very poor standards prevailing in many of the private training institutes are voiced. 10. Area Management, Environmental, Resorts and Water Areas Controls and Management There are a number of pieces of specific environmental related legislation covering Integrated Coastal Management (202 of 2002), Black Sea Coast Controls (19 of 2006), Nautical Leisure Activity (452 of 2003), Certification of Resorts (867 of 2006), Touring Zones and Resorts (31 of 1996), and the Blue Flag (335 of 2002). In addition there is a range of general planning laws and environmental control laws. Commentary There are adequate laws to protect the tourist sensitive areas and the general environment. However, their application and the protection of the environment leaves a lot to be desired in that undesirable developments are allowed, refuse is evident on the streets, countryside and in streams and rivers


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1.3 Visa Regime The visa regime is very liberal and conducive to tourism growth. There are 104 countries whose citizens do not require a visa to enter Romania. These include all the primary markets for Romania. Citizens of the Russian Federation and neighboring countries Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine, which have been and are potential significant markets, require a visa. As these are issued on arrival, no problems should arise. Citizens of the Peoples Republic of China and Belarus require a visa issued in advance, on submission of an invitation and bank guarantee. The Chinese authorities have now designated Romania as a favored tourist destination. The visa requirement could be an impediment to growth from this market. 1.4 Licensing and Classification System The classification of accommodation and catering establishments is legislated for under Decision No. 1328 of 2001 and Order No. 510 0f 2002. The sixteen categories are too many and confusing particularly for the consumer. There is a need to have them rationalized. Licensing and Classification criteria have been developed and published by the National Tourism Authority (NTA). The licensing and classification of accommodation and catering establishments and the licensing of tour operators, travel agents and guides is being implemented by the regional representatives of the NTA. There are over four thousand accommodation establishments licensed and, in addition, there are the catering establishments, tour operators, travel agents and licensed guides. The twelve regional representatives are totally insufficient to perform the licensing and classification workload. They also appear to be technically ill-equipped to apply the classification criteria as evidenced by the range of disparities between the ratings awarded to hotels. The implementation of the licensing and classification is unsatisfactory at the present time with the following consequences:

� Some properties do not fulfill basic requirements in fire safety and hygiene;

� A large number of bed and breakfast establishments have not licensed, thereby creating a very significant black economy. This is undermining the profitability and reinvestment capability of the legal operators;

� The classification system is in disrepute within the industry and travel trade;

� Guest guidance and safety is undermined.

The classification requirements lack in qualitative criteria in relation to services and food standards. The quality of services is as important as the presence or absence of services. The criteria need to be reviewed for the accommodation establishments and qualitative criteria added.


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Restaurants and other food catering establishments are not normally classified by National Tourism Organizations. Unlike information on accommodation, tourists do not require information on restaurants and food outlet establishments before visiting a destination. Restaurant selection is usually made on the spot, looking at the premises and the menu outside the premises, on personal recommendations or using food or other travel guides. The continuing classification of catering establishment by the National Tourism Organisation is an unnecessary burden on the organization's resources. A national classification system is primarily a marketing tool, which can also be used as a development tool, to raise standards which in the long run can enhance the sector. It is not a negative for the industry. A classification system can therefore only be successfully implemented where there is a good understanding and partnership between Government authorities and the private sector of the tourism and hospitality industry. Unfortunately, this does not exist in Romania at the present time. Accommodation and catering providers must be well educated in the benefits derivable from a system, especially about the positive impact it will have on their business. In this respect, it is necessary to have well-trained classification assessors with a hospitality background. These should be more private sector inclined as advisers rather than as government inspectors. Licenses are granted on a three year basis. This is too long and does not provide for changes that can occur during this time scale. All licenses should be annual with a plan for frequent inspections. The existing legislation governing the NTA does not allow for the imposition or collection of licensing fees.


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2 Governance and Organisation The Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism (MTCT), was the ministry responsible for tourism until mid-April 2007. It is headed by a Minister who is a member of the Cabinet. Following a cabinet reshuffle the tourism responsibility was re-allocated to the Ministry for Trade, MSEs, Tourism and Liberal Professions. The National Tourism Authority, while being established by legislation, is an integral part of the ministry. All the personnel in the Authority are civil servants and the executive head is a State Secretary.

2.1 National Tourism Authority (NTA) The National Tourism Authority was established under the Romanian Government Decision No. 413 of 2004. The NTA has been part of the MTCT charged with the following responsibilities:

� To implement national tourism policies and strategies;

� To apply strategies for tourism infrastructure;

� To promote Romania as a tourist destination at home and internationally; � To protect the tourism heritage;

� To license and classify tourism service and accommodation providers;

� To control the quality of all tourism services;

� To approve planning proposals for tourist areas and resorts and constructions for

tourism use;

� To coordinate international technical assistance programs for tourism; The NTA head office is situated in Bucharest with 12 regional offices each covering a number of counties. It has a total of 123 staff (the maximum allowed by legislation) of which 12 are based in the regional offices and 20 in the market based offices. The number of staff is inadequate for the responsibilities of the NTA. For instance, as already mentioned, the licensing and classification implementation is unsatisfactory. The organization is unable to fulfill its control role over the beach and resort areas. It is not guiding, promoting or securing tourist product, services or infrastructure developments. The role of the NTA in human resources development for the industry is limited to accrediting training providers and the approval of their programs. CNIT – The Institute for Tourism Education, which is under the President (State Secretary) of the NTA, has eleven personnel. It appears to be dormant and playing no active role.


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The consequences are that the industry is in a human resources crisis as no organization is researching, planning or ensuring that the human resources and training needs of the industry are being addressed. Eighty eight of the personnel in the NTA have higher qualifications but few are experienced in tourism. The President of the NTA, who is the chief executive, is a political appointee subject to frequent change with consequential changes in direction for the organization and Romanian tourism. There is consequently a lack of stable leadership for the sector. The frequent changes in the leadership of the NTA must have contributed to the lack of support for structural strengthening and training for the NTA under the PHARE programs and of input to the planning and allocation of the Structural Funds. It is understood that the funding of a Tourism Master Plan was offered under the PHARE program but was not accepted. The 2007 budget for the NTA as expressed in Euro is just over Euro 13.6 million Current Euro m. Personnel 1.531 11% Goods and Services 1.980 14% Materials 775 6% Activities 8.006 59% Capital Other 1.364 10% Total Euro 13.656 100% The allocation of the budget between overheads and activities is in line with the average allocation by National Tourism Organizations in Europe. However, the salary levels in Romania compared to the average salary levels in Western Europe distort such a comparison. In 2006 the 16 offices abroad had budgets in total of Euro 7, 356,000 divided as follows: Salaries 4% Administration 11% Fairs 20% Advertising 65% The salary levels for the personnel abroad appear low, for example Euro 16,887 in London and Euro 17,805 in Munich must be difficult to live on with the local cost of living. The number and location of the offices and the budget allocation to fairs and advertising is commented on in the marketing section. The structure of the NTA on transfer from the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism to the Ministry of Trade, MSEs, Tourism and Liberal Professions was structured as set out below. The staff establishment (Total 123) is shown in brackets.


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Minister for Transport, Construction and

Tourism

Transport

National

Institute of

Tourism

Research and Development

Construction Tourism

CNIT

Institute for Tourism

Education

President (1)

Vice President (1)

Strategy Licensing and

Control

Finance and

HRD

Promotions Intermediary

Body

Presidents Office

Manager

Personal Councillor Assistant

Personal Secretary

Courier

Total (5)

Gen Manager

Deputy Gen Manger

Superior Councillor

(5) Principal Councillor

Assistant Councillor

Principal Expert (4)

Assistant Expert (3)

Superior Specialised

Referent

Total (17)

Manager

Deputy Manager

Secretary

Superior Legal

Advisor

Principal Legal

Advisor Asst Legal Advisor

Superior Councillor (6)

Assistant Experts (3)

Principal Expert

Trainee Expert

Superior Principal Referent

Principal Inspector (8)


Total (29)

Manager

Superior Councillor

(2)

Principal Councillor

Superior Expert

Principal Expert

Superior Referent (3)

Assistant Referent

Cashier

Storekeeper

Buffeteer

Driver (2)

Total (15)

General Manager

Manager

Superior Councillor

(8)

Principal Councillor

Assistant Councillor

(2)


Principal Expert

Trainee Expert (2)

Superior Referent

Specialist Referent Abroad (20)

Total (41)

General Manager

Deputy General

Manager

Superior

Councillor (3)

Principal

Councillor

Assistant

Councillor (2)

Assistant Expert

Principal Expert

(2)

Trainee Expert

(3)

Total (13)

Internal

Audit

(1)


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The regional structure of the NTA is under resourced in manpower and other resources to act as regional offices and representatives of the NTA. Licensing dominates the time of the officers. Communications between the industry, the regional authorities and the NTA in Bucharest suffers and is nearly non-existent. The plans and targets developed by the NTA are aspirations and not focused and without clear responsibilities or accountability within the organization. 2.2 Tourism Organization at Regional, County and Local Government

Level The Romanian local government is constituted in forty one counties, Bucharest Municipality, six distinct local councils, 314 local city councils and 2,852 local commune councils. The local and county councils are policy making authorities, the mayors are executive authorities. There are eight development regions with Regional Development Agencies. The Regional Development Agencies are established under the regional development legislation and are constituted as “foundations”. Each has a Board of Directors drawn from the local administrations. They are funded by central government, local administrations and the Structural Funds. Each has an Executive Director appointed by its Board of Directors. The Development Agencies are pivotal bodies in the application of the EU Structural Funds. Ordinance No. 58 of 1998 for the organization and performance of the tourism activity in Romania sets out the following obligations in the tourism field for county councils and the General Council of Bucharest:

� Inventory of main tourist resources; � Administration of the local registers of tourism patrimony; � Drafting of the development proposals, which are the basis for the annual

program for tourism development; � Participation in the homologation of tourist tours and ski tracks; � Contribution to the increase of quality of tourist products; � Supervision of tourist activity, in order for the operators to have access to tourist

resources. Some local authorities have taken strong action to develop and promote the industry within their areas. Others have developed proposals without progressing them. Improvements should be made to the general performance in preserving, maintaining and presenting monuments and museums. Generally they do not have strategies or plans on marketing their regions on the domestic market. They lack qualified personnel and are not exposed to training on current trends and developments in tourism. There is need to agree with the counties and town halls clear and well defined activities for the local organizations to better support the national tourism effort and tourism in their own areas. 2.3 Commercial Sector Organisations The following commercial/professional private sector organizations are in place:

� Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers


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� Romanian Hotel Industry Association

� Romanian Association for Accommodation and Ecological Tourism (ARCTE)

� National Association of Tourism Agencies (ANAT)

� ANTREC

� Spa Owners Association

� Association of Ecotourism in Romania

� National Association of Tour Guides

� National Association of Mountain Rescue

� National Association of Mountain Guides

� Romanian Convention Bureau

The professional associations for guides and mountain rescue personnel serve the needs of their members and arrange training. The Romanian Association for Accommodation and Ecological Tourism – ARCTE is successful as a marketing group for its B&B members. The Romanian Convention Bureau is a private sector organization composed of hotels, tour operators etc. that are involved in the Meetings, Incentive, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. Its primary role is promoting its members. It holds itself out as promoting MICE business within and to Romania but has no realistic budget for such marketing. There is a need to have in place a bureau that markets Romania internationally as a MICE destination.

The effectiveness of the industry representative bodies in furthering the interests of, and lobbying on behalf of, the commercial sector of the industry can be measured by the poor state and problems of the commercial sector resulting from the following:

� The absence of public private partnership in tourism;

� The ineffective destination marketing;

� The high rate of employee's personal taxation;.

� The performance of central and regional public bodies;

� The lack of training for the industry;

� Outdated training systems and curricula;

� The general lack of tangible government support for the industry.


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In discussions with individuals in the commercial sector, particularly in the accommodation related sector, it is evident that there is a communications gap between the associations' managements and their members. There is very little understanding of the objectives and roles of the associations and in what the associations serve them.

2.4 SWOT ANALYSIS of Policy, Governance and Organization

Amongst Romania’s policy, organizational and legislative strengths are the stated commitment to tourism of the Prime Minister, and the national prioritization of tourism.

The accessibility of EU Structural Funds and the progressive visa regime should assist tourism grow. The remit of the National Tourism Authority (NTA) is over concentrated on controls with its marketing effort highly dependent on trade and consumer fairs. The exercise of minimal influence on the development of the product and facilities is a significant weakness. This and the lack of professionalism in the sector have restricted the growth of tourism. Furthermore, the Industry is disorganized and lacks a single voice to articulate its needs and influence government policy. The absence of meaningful communications and cooperation between the public and private sectors undermines any positive future for the industry

Strengths and Weaknesses in National Tourism Policy, Governance and Organisation

Strengths Weaknesses

� Prime Ministerial Commitment � National Prioritization of

Tourism � Extensive Legal Framework � Liberal Visa Regime

� Absence of Stability in Public Sector Tourism Leadership

� Absence of Private Sector Leadership � Absence of Semi Autonomous NTO � Existing NTO Under Resourced � Inadequate Funding � Lack of Government Targets for NTO � Lack of Public/Private Sector Communication

and Cooperation � Lack of Inter-Ministerial Collaboration and

Cooperation � No Structure for Public/Private Sector

Communication � Lack of Effective Single Industry Voice � Poor Local Government Tourism Organization � Licensing Regulations not Meeting Market

Conditions � Inadequate Implementation of Current

Legislation and Quality Controls � Lack of Targeted Outputs � Lack of Professionalism � Lack of Tourism Awareness

The opportunities for tourism lie in implementing this Tourism Master Plan with the clarification of the public sector roles, targets for growth, a reconstituted NTO and the establishment of a national all-industry representative body with a strong industry voice.


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The significant threats are any failure to implement this master plan or the downgrading of tourism in national priorities. Lack of industry unity and failure to target and prioritize could undermine the industry. Opportunities and Threats for National Tourism Policy, Governance and Organisation

Opportunities Threats � Implementation of Tourism

Master Plan � Accessibility of EU Funds � Restructured NTO with industry

involvement � Properly Resourced NTO � Strengthened Local

Government Tourism Organization and Role

� Government Targets for NTO � Effective Industry Voice � Implemented Tourism

Legislation � Public/Private Sector

Partnership � Introduction and

Implementation of Updated Quality Controls

� Improved Public/Private Sector Communications

� Implementation of Tourism Awareness Program

� Inter- ministerial Cooperation at Official Levels

� Strengthened Central and Local Government Communications

� Failure to Implement Tourism Master Plan � Downgrading of Tourism as National Priority � Failure to Restructure Central and Local

Government Organizations � Continued Industry Disunity � Lack of Targets and Prioritization � Continuing Instability in Tourism Leadership

and Dysfunctional NTO

Key Conclusions

Policy, Legislation and Organization

� National policy, as expressed in the National Development Plan, identifies tourism as a priority sector of the economy and an important contributor to the development of the regions and rural areas.

� The legislation governing tourism in Romania is comprehensive and overall is in harmony with European Union regulations. The resources to implement the legislation are not in place.

� It is strong in the area of consumer protection. However, the following need to be addressed:

o The NTO being limited to the State Budget as its funding source;

o The limits on NTO personnel, vehicles and fuel consumption;

o The very high number of accommodation and catering categories in the

Classification legislation;


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o The classification of restaurants and other catering establishments; o Licensing being for a three year period;

o The use of the term “tourist” for “guest” in Decision No 237 of 2001;

o The absence of a limit of liability for accommodation providers in regard to

loss and/or damage to guests’ goods.

� As part of the ministry responsible for tourism, the National Tourism Authority is the implementation agency, concentrating on controls and marketing. The development of tourism infrastructure, products and services lacks a driver and coordinator at central level.

� The human resources and training needs of the industry are not being addressed.

� The National Tourism Authority, with a frequently changed political appointee as chief executive, lacks stable leadership, is under-resourced and is restricted in actions and recruitment by its status as part of the Ministry.

� Public/private sector consultation and partnership is virtually non existent.

� The communications between the NTA and local administrations is very weak and the NTA is not influencing or driving development.

� The commercial sector lacks a much needed strong single voice to articulate its needs to the NTA and government. The overall state of the commercial sector of the tourist industry and the lack of government support underline the need for a strong single industry voice.

� There is a view that new legislation is required to enable the collation of tourism revenues generated by international and domestic tourists. This is not so. Tourism revenues are collated from exit surveys conducted at airports and border points, household surveys and information on foreign exchange movements supplied by the country’s central bank-the National Bank of Romania.

� The major issue to be addressed is the lack of implementation of the legislation. At present the resources are not in place to implement and enforce the legislation.


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3 Investment Policy and Constraints 3.1 National Tourism Authority Investment Policy The National Tourism Authority (NTA) does not possess a formal policy on investment nor does it possess a dedicated development division or department within its structure, which can undertake project appraisal, feasibility studies and other activities related to investment. Consequently it possesses no staff members who have either experience or awareness of the world of investment and project development. In the recent past, when Government placed the operational activities of tourism policy and organisation under a dedicated Ministry of Tourism, there was indeed a General Division for Strategy, Privatisation and Investments within the Ministry. However, the role performed with respect to privatisation was largely one of monitoring a technical, financial and business procedure undertaken by another Ministry, while activities associated with investment were concerned with the development of sectoral infrastructure programmes (i.e. ski, spa, beach/delta, mountain etc.) in co-operation with various county councils and municipalities. A national tourism investment programme for the period 2006 to 2008, focusing upon infrastructure in the sectors identified above (plus funding for Sibiu Cultural Capital of Europe 2007) and amounting to Euro 325million, is currently underway in partnership with the county councils and municipalities, despite the word investment no longer appearing in the title of the department involved with the programme. The infrastructural programmes are co-funded partly from the budget of the Ministry of Tourism/NTA and partly from county council/municipality sources and were the result of co-operative action to identify locations and projects, which could be undertaken over a three year implementation period. Many of these projects were already identified by the county councils and they were supplemented by others, which were developed out of indicative market research studies commissioned from the National Institute of Tourism Research and Development and paid for by the Ministry of Tourism/NTA. Many of these projects require feasibility, engineering and environmental studies, which the co-funding procedure pays for. However, the commissioning and analysis of these studies is undertaken entirely at the county council/municipality level with limited input from the Ministry of Tourism/NTA. Implementation and oversight of the project development process is similarly in the hands of the county councils/municipalities and the engagement of private sector companies to operate certain of the infrastructure facilities built, such as ski lifts, restaurants, bars etc., is also handled locally. The Ministry of Tourism/NTA does have much greater involvement when the infrastructure concerned is construction of new Tourism Information Centres and the provision of tourist maps, brochures and other promotional activities, but the technical project development is still handled at county council/municipality level. Financing the programmes is a joint activity between Ministry of Tourism/NTA and the county councils/municipalities, but transmission of the Ministry of Tourism/NTA contribution is made directly from the Ministry of Finance to the county


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councils/municipalities on the basis of the project development procedures and controls undertaken at the local level. The Ministry of Tourism/NTA thus has a role in the development of, and investment in, public sector tourism infrastructure through commissioning some market research and co-operating in a co-financing arrangement with county councils and municipalities, but it is not engaged with the commissioning and analysis of feasibility studies or the technicalities of the project development and implementation process. Neither does this limited role have any real contact with the private sector. It is anticipated that funding for similar programmes and projects identified after 2008 will be sourced from European Union Structural Funds. The development world outside of public sector infrastructure provision is principally driven and occupied by private sector investors, developers, operators and their professional advisors. This is a world from which the NTA is largely disconnected and consequently unfamiliar with. 3.2 Government of Romania Investment Code At present, even at a national level, there is no Investment Code in place in Romania. This is because the previous code held numerous provisions and measures, which were incompatible with Romania’s accession to EU membership and would thus be illegal or would be replaced by EU wide provisions and policies such as in the case of the EU Common Customs Tariff and the availability of EU Structural Funds. A revised Investment Code has been prepared but apparently aspects of this revised document have also been deemed illegal and much of the content has been regarded as unacceptable by political and business interests asked to review the document. A major review of this revised Code was initiated earlier in 2007 but the results have yet to be made public and it is likely that recent political events and Governmental changes will delay publication further. The previous Investment Code was designed primarily for major investments of in excess of Euro 1 million but focussing on projects worth tens of millions of Euros and more. The Code had the purpose of ‘stimulating investments in Romania in order to promote a sustainable economic development of the country’ and thus was multi-sectoral in approach with no particular advantages for one sector over another, although research and development and environmental protection investment was encouraged with slightly better conditions. Tourism was not separately identified. Quite separate from the Investment Code is the Government’s internal fiscal policy which it has the discretion to change without the control and direction of EU policy. Romania has the freedom to set its own tax rates for VAT, profit, income and other tax related areas, which bear upon the friendliness of the business climate. Decisions taken, which reduced and simplified tax rates from January 1st 2005, have helped give Romania what is considered to be a relatively attractive business environment. The standard rate of VAT became 19% but a special concession to tourism was introduced which allowed hotels and other accommodation providers to charge only 9% on room sales, although they must still charge 19% on food and beverage sales. Profits tax and income tax were both standardised at a flat rate of 16%.


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C Strengths and Weaknesses of Romania as a Tourism Destination

1. Strengths of Romania as a Tourist Destination

� Geographic and Environmental o Danube Delta's biodiversity (UNESCO World Heritage Site) o Diversity of National Parks and Reserves - 7% of the country – with pristine

forest, lakes and rivers o Rich and varied countryside with picturesque villages o Black Sea coast and beaches o Carpathian Mountains o The River Danube and extensive river network throughout the country o Extensive cave networks o Rich diversity of flora and fauna, many unique or most populous in Europe,

especially large carnivores o 35% of Europe's natural springs and "mofeta" providing wide range of spa

treatments o Temperate continental climate o Good natural conditions for tourism activities – skiing, hiking, riding, cycling,

mountaineering, water sports, etc,

� Culture and Heritage o Diversity of heritage sites – monasteries, archaeological sites, fortified

villages etc. including 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites/areas o Medieval towns o Rural villages featuring traditional way of life and festivals o Museums – diverse themes o World class performing arts - both classical and modern o Wide range of traditional and folklore Festivals o Legends – Dracula etc. o Sibiu – Cultural Capital of Europe 2007

� Infrastructure, Transport and Communications

o Good network of airports o Extensive rail network – fourth largest in Europe o Extensive road network with many border crossing points o National air carrier with good network of destinations and many other carriers o Good quality intercity coach services and other tour operator transport o Well developed network of river harbours o Well developed telecommunications networks – telephone, radio, GSM,

satellite o Electrical power supply in 95% of country o Significant private sector investment in new accommodation

� Human Resources

o Country of welcoming people and a tradition of hospitality


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o Young population with linguistic skills providing many potential tourism employees

o Well developed networks of high schools and universities as a basis for tourism education and training

o National Centre for Tourism Education established and overseeing hospitality industry training

o Tourism courses offered at many tertiary education institutions o Nucleus of skilled and experienced destination management organisations

� Legal Framework and Organisation

o Tourism product and supplier licensing system operational o Extensive legal framework controlling National Parks, Protected Areas, the

environment and the cultural heritage o Government recognition of tourism through the National Development Plan

and National Tourism Authority o Liberal visa regime

� Marketing and Promotion

o Active tour operator sector o National Institute for Tourism Research and Statistics (INCDT) o Network of NTA promotional offices abroad o Extensive promotional programme of activity abroad – advertising, fairs,

media and operator visits o Existing brands – Dracula and Transylvania

� Other

o Increasing interest in tourism development among foreign investors


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2. Weaknesses of Romania as a tourist destination

� Geographic and Environmental o Industrial pollution o Unsightly and polluted industrial ruins o Major litter problem; insufficient waste collection and disposal facilities o Pollution of the Danube, Black Sea and rivers o Beach erosion and pollution o Low altitude of many ski resorts limits the length of the season o Poor implementation of environmental law o Excessive density of tourism developments in some areas o Unsustainable use of forest areas o Unsustainable exploitation of natural resources even in protected area

� Culture and Heritage

o Decay of many historic buildings and monuments o Conservation and architectural preservation legislation not implemented o Presentation and interpretation of museum exhibits generally poor o Lack of public investment in the development and promotion of cultural

attractions – museums, monuments, etc. o No database of festivals and cultural events available to permit effective

promotion to visitors o Lack of support for local traditions and folklore

� Infrastructure, Transport and Communications

o Poor ground facilities at regional airports and railway stations o Some airport runways are too short to attract additional and international

services extensions required to encourage regional gateways and spread of tourism

o Low quality of many trains and local buses o Poor road quality o Lack of motorways and incomplete trans-European roads o Lack of ring roads around heritage towns o Few river transport services o Lack of signage to tourism sites and facilities - international brown tourism

signs o Insufficient electrification of rail network o Limited provision of access for the disabled at many hotels and attractions o Lack of sewerage and water supply especially in rural areas o Low use of renewable energy sources o Low standard of much accommodation o Camping facilities often poor o Old equipment in many spas o Lack of parking and toilets at many tourist attractions o Inconvenient domestic air links and schedules o Uncoordinated ground transport between towns and airports o No purpose-built international conference centre

� Human Resources

o Low awareness of tourism's economic importance


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o No Hotel School o Low rates of pay and poor working conditions stimulating exodus of

hospitality industry workers o Vocational training in hospitality sector does not correspond well with

employers' needs o Lack of vocational training courses in the regions o Emigration of hospitality workers o Little education in schools on environmental protection and tourism o Low awareness of career paths and potential within the tourism industry o Limited skills in use of IT by tourism SMEs

� Legal Framework and Organisation

o Implementation of tourism product and supplier registration system under resourced

o Licensing regulations do not meet current market conditions o Lack of regional tourism development strategies o Lack of integrated town/resort tourism development plans o Lack of incentives and support mechanisms for investors o Unresolved land and property ownership issues restricting development o Inter-governmental consultation prior to new legislation is poor o Implementation of current legislation often inadequate o Right of way on designated trails needs to be established o Lack of coordination between local, regional and national public authorities

for the development of tourism o No structure for public / private sector collaboration

� Marketing and Promotion

o Lack of strong, positive image abroad for destination Romania o Lack of formal destination marketing planning at national level o Insufficient market research o NTA offices abroad have limited impact due mainly to low staff levels o Uncoordinated network of Tourist Information Centres in Romania providing

varied service levels o Insufficient use of IT and the Internet for information, marketing and

reservations o Limited private/public sector collaboration in marketing

� Other

o Short seasons for coastal and winter sports resorts


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D. Economic Impact of Tourism

1. Introduction The economic impact of tourism may be measured in a number of ways utilising a range of key indicators, which demonstrate the contribution of the sector to the wider economy. Included among these indicators are foreign exchange earnings and their contribution to the travel account on the Balance of Payments, tourism expenditure and income, tourism sector contribution to GDP (both in terms of the foreign exchange earned and the wider tourism sector earnings), contribution to Government earnings (principally taxation), the multiplier effect and employment creation. A comprehensive identification of such impacts is a complex undertaking and is wholly dependent upon the availability of commensurately comprehensive, reliable and accurate data. Unfortunately the tourism statistics database in Romania is inadequate for economic analysis on other than an indicative basis. The principal deficiency is the complete lack of officially collected international visitor expenditure data and the unreliability (and unpublished) thus far of a recently established visitor expenditure component of a wider domestic household survey. Allied to this is the fact that the international visitor arrival statistics that are collected do not include data upon purpose of visit and do not distinguish between same day visitors and overnight visitors. This is a serious deficiency for a country, which is known to have significant volumes of same day cross border traffic with Hungary and Moldova, since this distorts the picture presented of international arrivals and makes direct comparisons with competitor destination visitor data impossible. The accession of Romania into the EU will also mean that the previous border crossing controls between Bulgaria and Hungary will be removed and thus the existing system for collecting visitor arrival data at road frontiers (almost 75% of arrivals are by road) will have to be replaced. The design and adoption of a new data collection survey has yet to be determined. The absence of significant economic data considerably weakens the effectiveness of the tourism sector to demonstrate the contribution and value of the industry to the national economy and to Government ministers and although a system of tourism satellite accounting, which would readily deliver such a detailed picture, is partly prepared, the critical lack of expenditure data prevents its completion. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) prepared a report upon the impact of travel and tourism on jobs and the economy of Romania in 2005, but their assumptions and methodology are unique to their approach and cannot be replicated here. The WTTC basic approach incorporates data from the wider travel and tourism industry, which includes data upon the volume and value of Romanian outbound travel and the travel agency sector, whose business is overwhelmingly dominated by this market. The analysis undertaken in this Master Plan takes a completely different approach and concentrates on inbound and domestic internal tourism activities to the exclusion of all outbound travel volume and value.


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2. Foreign Exchange Earnings and Balance of Payments This topic has already been covered earlier in the report in the section entitled ‘Volume and Value of Tourism to 2006’ however it is important to note once again that the value of this measure of tourism’s contribution to the economy is itself subject to the methodology used to collect the data (as demonstrated by the differences between the 2004 and 2005 figures) and this will not necessarily be the same in every country, so caution is needed when making international comparisons with this indicator. Full monetary and economic union of Romania within the EU will not be achieved until Romania finally adopts the Euro as its own currency and this is not anticipated until around 2014. Once this has taken place the significance of foreign exchange earnings and their contribution to the Balance of Payments becomes much more limited since over 50% of arrivals and an even greater percentage of the earnings contributed from all arrivals will be generated from EU members using the Euro, which by then will be the ‘national’ currency. The diminishing value of this measure is already recognised by the National Bank of Romania, whose concern with respect to the contribution of this indicator is already supporting interest in the identification of a replacement approach, which can provide a more accurate method of establishing the economic contribution of tourism to the economy.


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3. Tourism Expenditure and Income 3.1 Introduction Estimates of tourism expenditure can be made by utilising official tourist arrivals data in combination with expenditure survey findings on inbound and domestic spending patterns in reports/surveys, which may exist on the hotel and related sectors. Unfortunately, as noted earlier, no international visitor expenditure surveys are conducted by the National Institute of Statistics or the National Tourism Authority and there are also significant weaknesses in the existing data, for example, the absence of information upon purpose of visit collected on international arrivals. However, an even bigger problem exists with respect to the extent to which the official accommodation registration system reflects the true picture of available supply and demand in this sector because of the considerable numbers of unregistered guest houses, bed and breakfast and other similar operations. The value of this unregistered or ‘black’ accommodation economy is believed to be significant but not accounted for in official statistics and although The National Household Survey, which does include an expenditure component covering holiday and leisure activities, could provide greater insight into this situation, it is still at an evolutionary stage and requires further revision and refining before its data can be considered reliable. Three ad hoc surveys have been identified, however, which provide limited information upon international and domestic visitor expenditure in Romania and in the absence of major annual surveys designed specifically for this purpose, careful use of this data as a proxy has been necessary. The first report was a market research study conducted for NTA by the National Institute of Research Development in Tourism in 2004, which prepared a series of market profiles of the current domestic and international visitors to the various tourist zones in Romania i.e. in spa resorts, in mountain areas, on the coast, in the Danube Delta and in the major cities (including Bucharest). This study, while primarily directed at surveying the profile and characteristics of the visitors, also asked some general questions about overall expenditure and length of stay. The second study, prepared by EDS Quantitative Tourism Research on behalf of USAID in 2005 was an international visitor profile, travel behaviour and visitor attitudinal survey conducted at Bucharest International Airport (Otopeni), which also asked some general questions about overall expenditure and length of stay. The third study was a larger follow up survey conducted by EDS for USAID in 2006, which extended the same interview programme to several regional locations, in addition to Bucharest, but excluded questions on expenditure. Neither study with expenditure questions breaks down the daily visitor spend by category (accommodation, meals, transport etc.) nor do they present their daily spend by market type (holiday, business, visiting friends and relatives etc.) in the same way, thus leading to difficulties in interpreting and using the data. However, the USAID study only deals with international visitors but does break down the markets in terms of holiday, business and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) while the NTA study provides the only


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guide to the expenditure of Romanian nationals in Romania even though in market terms it focuses only on holidaymakers visiting the various tourist zones. The only rational use of the data is thus to use the USAID figures as a basis for international visitor expenditure and the NTA study for domestic visitor expenditure and to utilise these average daily spend figures in conjunction with such overnight stay market data as may be available from The Romanian National Institute of Statistics. 3.2 Visitor Expenditure Assumptions 3.2.1 Existing Levels of Expenditure In the absence of detailed arrivals data by purpose of visit and thus accommodation demand by purpose of visit, the overall market targets put forward by the Master Plan for future international and domestic arrivals and overnight stays in registered accommodation are presented as total figures. They are not broken down by market segment i.e. by holiday, business or visiting friends or relations. However, since the Surveys referred to above do give some indicative data upon international visitor spend for the business, holiday and VFR categories they have been adopted here after careful adjustment. Unfortunately the data for domestic overnights does not allow similar disaggregating and the daily visitor expenditure for Romanians staying overnight in Romania can only be presented as a single figure. Table 3.1 below shows the assumed existing levels of average daily spends for international and domestic overnight visitors staying in registered accommodation in Euros, at 2005 values. These average daily expenditure figures are considered to be total expenditure figures, that is, they include expenditure upon accommodation, meals, transport within Romania, entertainment and other discretionary spending such as shopping/ souvenir purchases etc. Table 3.1: Average Daily Spends for International and Domestic Overnight Visitors Staying

in Registered Accommodation in Euros at 2005 Values

Visitor Type Average Daily Spend Euros

International - Business 350 International – Holiday 230 International - VFR 85 Domestic Visitors 55 Source: USAID Reports, National Household Survey and Consultant’s Estimates

The National Household Survey does, however, demonstrate that the number of overnight stays by Romanians in Romania is far greater than the numbers recorded in registered accommodation and presented by the Romanian National Institute for Statistics in their official yearbook. The difference between these figures is accounted for by Romanians staying in unregistered guest houses and similar accommodation, but also by a considerable number of Romanians staying overnight at the homes of friends and relations or in their own holiday homes, categories which are also beyond the registration system. Table 3.2 below thus shows the indicative assumptions made for


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the total spend (accommodation, meals, transport, entertainment etc) per person per day for these market sectors. Table 3.2: Average Daily Spend for Romanian Visitors Staying Overnight in Unregistered

and VFR Accommodation in Euros at 2005 Values

Romanian Visitor Type Average Daily Spend Euros

Unregistered Accommodation 40 VFR Accommodation 25

Source: Consultant’s Estimates

3.2.2 Future Levels of Expenditure Presentation of the economic impact figures is made at 2005 values (the base year for our visitor arrival and overnight stay targets), which therefore ignores the effect of inflation upon our figures for the plan horizon of 2005 to 2026. Removing inflation enables a truer picture of tourism earnings growth to be observed and, although this is principally demonstrated by the growing number of overseas arrivals and the increased international and domestic visitor overnight stays, there is also a need to consider the anticipated increase in real discretionary visitor spend per day, which will improve as the development of Romania as a destination itself evolves. The Master Plan presents detailed targets for visitor arrivals and overnight stays in Section E and they have been used as the basis for the overall tourism sector expenditure and income analysis shown here. These targets indicate that over the time horizon of the plan the international market is expected to show a small shift in preference for higher quality levels of accommodation and this factor has been taken into account in the figures shown for real growth in average daily spend seen in Table 3.3 below. The improvement in daily visitor spend will only take place once improvements to the tourism product, the tourism infrastructure and superstructure are in place. This cannot happen immediately and will not be visible in Table 3.3 until 2011. However; it is simply not possible to identify the detailed character of the investments which will need to take place in Romania over the next twenty years, to encourage the visitor to spend more on his visit. In general terms, though, they will be associated with improvements to the road, rail and air networks, which will enable visitors to move around the country more easily, rapidly and safely, allowing the opening up of more tour programmes and excursion opportunities and thereby encouraging visitors to extend the length of their stay. Improvements to visitor spend will also follow from investment in a wider range of quality accommodation, visitor attractions, entertainment, sports and leisure activities, which will give visitors more choice and opportunities to spend. These can be as simple as introducing catering and gift shop facilities at existing monuments, museums and attractions, improving the design, range, quality and availability of souvenirs for purchase, through to the major investment in new integrated resorts, marinas, family entertainment attractions, sporting and adventure facilities and market focussed spa/health/wellness amenities.


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It is not possible to be prescriptive about the additional discretionary expenditure, which can be generated and thus indicative growth per market sector is shown in Table 3.3 simply as an uplift of an assumed number of Euros per day per period (2011, 2016 etc.) which builds cumulatively. The uplift figures are considered to be conservative and will be lower or higher depending upon the influence and pace of development within the tourism sector and the strength of the wider Romanian economy. Table 3.3 below shows the assumed levels of real growth in daily visitor spend for the periods 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026.

Table 3.3: Assumed Real Growth in Daily Visitor Spend – 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 In Euros at 2005 Values

Visitor Type Growth in Daily Visitor Spend per Period

Euros International – Business 20 International – Holiday 15 International – VFR 10 Domestic in Registered Accommodation 5 Domestic in Unregistered Accommodation 4 Domestic in VHR Accommodation 3


3.3 Estimated Visitor Expenditure Figures for 2005 to 2026 This section shows the consolidated position for visitor expenditure based upon the approach and assumptions outlined above and utilising the 2005 base year data for arrivals and overnight stays presented by the National Institute of Statistics and The National Household Survey, in conjunction with targets and estimates prepared by members of the Master Plan international consulting team. Table 3.4 below presents the estimates of international visitor expenditure in registered accommodation for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026.

Table 3.4: Estimated Expenditure of International Visitors Using Registered Accommodation for 2005, 2011, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Visitor Overnights

(millions) Average Daily

Spend (Euros)

Total Visitor Expenditure

(Euros million) 2005 3.46 253 877 2011 6.37 271 1,726 2016 10.22 288 2,947 2021 16.01 300 4,798 2026 23.78 325 7,740

Source: National Institute of Statistics, USAID Report and Consultant’s Estimates Note: The growth assumptions for average daily spend shown in Table 3.3 and used here have been progressively reduced to Euros 5/day from 2021 to 2026 for the Business and Holiday markets.


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The ‘Average Daily Spend’ figures shown for each year in Table 3.4 above are derived by dividing the ‘Total Visitor Expenditure’ figure by the ‘Visitor Overnights’ figure, while the ‘Total Visitor Expenditure’ figures themselves are derived from the application of the average international visitor spends in Tables 3.1 and 3.3 to the consultant’s estimates of visitor arrivals by market sector. Table 3.5 below presents the estimates of domestic visitor expenditure in registered accommodation for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. Table 3.5: Estimated Domestic Visitor Expenditure Staying in Registered Accommodation

for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Visitor Overnights (millions)

Average Daily Spend (Euros)


(Euros million) 2005 14.91 55 820 2011 21.11 60 1,267 2016 27.69 65 1,800 2021 37.25 70 2,608 2026 48.76 75 3,657

Source: National Institute of Statistics, USAID Reports and Consultant’s Estimates Table 3.6 below presents the estimates of domestic visitor expenditure in both unregistered and VFR accommodation for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026.

Table 3.6: Estimated Domestic Visitor Expenditure Staying in Unregistered/VFR Accommodation for 2005, 2011, 2016 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Unregistered

Overnights (millions)


VFR Overnights (millions)


Total Visitor Expenditure (Euros mill)

2005 16.27 40 16.27 25 1,058 2011 21.77 44 21.77 28 1,568 2016 28.59 48 28.59 31 2,258 2021 38.44 52 38.44 34 3,306 2026 50.24 56 50.24 37 4,672

Source: National Household Survey, National Institute of Statistics and Consultant’s Estimates

Table 3.7 below presents the consolidated picture for visitor expenditure from international and domestic overnight stays in both registered and unregistered accommodation by combining the results of tables 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 above. Table 3.7: Consolidated Estimates of Visitor Expenditure for International and Domestic Visitors Staying in Registered and Unregistered Accommodation for 2005, 2011, 2016,

2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year International Visitor

Expenditure (Euros million)

Domestic Expenditure - Registered

Accommodation Users

(Euros million)

Domestic Expenditure -

Unregistered/VFR Accommodation

Users (Euros million)


(Euros million)


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2005 877 820 1,058 2,755 2011 1,726 1,267 1,568 4,561 2016 2,947 1,800 2,258 7,005 2021 4,798 2,608 3,306 10,712 2026 7,740 3,657 4,672 16,069

Source: Tables 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 above

3.4 Estimated Contribution of Tourism to GDP Calculation of the estimated gross earnings of tourism from both international and domestic overnight visitors in Section 3.3 above enables the contribution of tourism to the Romanian economy to be presented in two distinct ways. Firstly, the foreign exchange earnings of the international visitors can be expressed separately for their contribution to GDP and secondly the total earnings from tourism can be expressed as a percentage of GDP. 3.4.1 Foreign Exchange Earnings Contribution to GDP Table 3.8 below presents the estimates of foreign exchange earnings as a percentage of estimated total GDP for the Romanian economy for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. Romanian GDP is shown in Euros and is based upon an exchange rate of 3.62 Lei to the Euro as provided by the National Bank of Romania for 2005 and is used throughout the period covered by the estimates. The 2005 GDP figure is the actual measure of this indicator in that year as presented by the National Bank of Romania, while future growth has been assumed at 6% throughout the period based upon estimates provided by the Ministry of Public Finance and banking sources for the medium term. It is considered reasonable in the absence of other estimates for the much longer term to reduce this rate to 5% from 2016. Significant and continuing improvement in this measure of tourism’s contribution to the economy may be seen from the tripling of growth in the percentage share of GDP represented by foreign exchange earnings between 2005 and 2026 at constant prices. From the date of Romania’s adoption of the Euro, around 2014, this measure will cease to have its present significance since the majority of international arrivals will be drawn from other EU member states using the Euro as their national currency. Table 3.8: Estimated Foreign Exchange Earnings as a Percentage of Romanian GDP in

Billion Euros for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026

2005 2011 2016 2021 2026 Romanian GDP (Billion Euros)

79.3

106.1

142.0

181.3

231.3

Tourism Foreign Exchange Earnings(Billion Euros)

0.877

1.726

2.947

4.798

7.740

Earnings as a Percentage of GDP

1.1

1.6

2.1

2.6

3.3

Source: National Bank of Romania, Ministry of Public Finance and Table 3.4 above


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3.4.2 Total Tourism Earnings Contribution to GDP Table 3.9 below shows the estimates of total tourism earnings (international and domestic earnings) as a percentage of estimated total GDP for the Romanian economy for the years, 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. As per table 3.8 above GDP is expressed in Euros calculated using an exchange rate of 3.62 Lei to the Euro, while a growth rate of 6% per annum has been adopted to estimate future levels of GDP performance in the medium term and a lower rate of 5% adopted from 2016. Once again significant and on-going improvement in the contribution of tourism to national GDP is demonstrated, growing from some 3.5% in 2005 and approaching a doubling of this position by 2026. The inclusion here of estimated expenditure from domestic overnight stays in unregistered and VFR accommodation beyond the official data collection system maybe considered unorthodox but it is nonetheless indicative of the greater reach and value of tourism to the economy than current methods of measurement can deliver. If unregistered earnings were removed, the contribution of tourism to GDP would drop to some 2.1% in 2005 and to 4.9% in 2026, a reduction of between 30-40%. Table 3.9: Estimated Total Tourism Earnings as a Percentage of Romanian GDP in Billion

Euros for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026

2005 2011 2016 2021 2026 Romanian GDP (Billion Euros)

79.3

106.1

142.0

181.3

231.3

Total Tourism Earnings (Billion Euros)

2.755

4.561

7.005

10.712

16.069

Earnings as a Percentage of GDP

3.5

4.3

4.9

5.9

6.9

Source: National Bank of Romania, Ministry of Public Finance and Table 3.7 above

3.4.3 Net Tourism Earnings Contribution to GDP It is important to recognise that the earnings from international tourism arrivals and from tourism development activities, which expand the scope, reach and appeal of the sector to international and domestic visitors, also comes at a cost which needs to be offset against total earnings. Principal among the so-called foreign exchange related ‘leakages’ are those associated with the importation of construction materials, fixtures, fittings and equipment for the development of new hotels and other tourism investment, the importation of food and beverages for the operation of hotels and other accommodation and restaurant businesses, the payment of dividends to foreign investors in Romanian tourism businesses, the payment of management and other professional fees and the overseas expenditure of the National Tourism Authority. In Romania, however, such leakages are currently very low and difficult to measure but the one figure which is available is the overseas marketing budget for the NTA (including the operational costs of their overseas offices). This figure is currently worth in the order of Euros 45 million and is possibly the single largest item in the list of foreign exchange


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leakages since the Romanian domestic economy can supply the majority of foodstuffs for consumption in and many of the items for the construction, fitting out and operating of hotels and other tourism related investments. Romania produces a wide range of foodstuffs, wines, beers and spirits and although many specialist items will necessarily be imported for the higher quality hotels and restaurants (beef is an important yet not a specialist item which is required to be imported) the volumes and values are not significant. Most of the major Belgian, Danish, Dutch and German breweries now operate in Romania in either outright ownership or joint venture with local partners and this pattern can be seen in other supply sectors to the hotel and catering industry. Electrical, electronic and specialist kitchen and other equipment may often still be imported particularly for higher quality operations but much construction material and fixtures are manufactured in Romania through wholly owned subsidiaries of under licensing agreements with international companies. Since 2000 in particular, the growth in foreign direct investment across the economy (except in tourism) has grown robustly under the impetus generated by the timeframe for accession to the EU and a strong programme of privatisation of former state owned enterprises. From an investment standpoint too there is little in the way of foreign exchange leakage through the repatriation of profits and dividends, since very little foreign based investment has entered the hotel and tourism sector. The high profile international hotel brands, visible almost uniquely in Bucharest, are financed by Romanian investors/developers for the most part and operate under management contracts, which means the leakage overseas of management fees and some ex-patriate salaries, but the total sums are small even in relation to the annual overseas budget of the NTA. Even the petrol consumed by tourist use of cars, busses and taxis is only 50% imported since Romania produces the other 50% from the oilfields around Ploiesti. Accession to EU membership has meant Romania joining the Single European Market, where internal tariffs between member states are abolished in favour of a common external tariff and customs policy toward non-EU member states. This allows suppliers in other EU countries to access Romanian markets with better quality and sometimes better priced goods. While this will certainly have taken place it does appear that many international companies have chosen instead to invest directly or tie up licensing deals to approach this market. Membership of the Single European Market blurs the boundary between what is an import (or leakage) and what is not and this will become reinforced by the adoption of the Euro in a few years time. At the present time then, and at current relatively low levels of investment in tourism projects, the issue of foreign exchange leakages is not a significant one.


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4. Estimated Contribution of Tourism to Central and Local Government Revenues The major source of tourism’s contribution to central and local government revenues comes from taxation in its various guises and principal amongst them are:

• VAT/Sales Tax • Personal Income Tax • Corporate Profit Tax • Airport Embarkation Tax • Aircraft Landing Charges • Entrance Fees to Museums • Municipal Taxes and • Import Duties

4.1 VAT Receipts The single most important revenue earning tax for Government is VAT whose standard rate in Romania is 19%. The accommodation industry, however, benefits from a major tax concession, unique in this area of fiscal policy, since it is allowed to charge a lower rate of VAT for accommodation sales at 9%, while charging the standard rate of 19% on food, beverage and all other sales. This concession gives the tourism sector in Romania the most favourable of VAT tax rates when compared with its competitor destinations. Data has been sought from the Ministry of Public Finance and other Government departments upon the contribution of the tourism sector to Government revenues and the response has been limited, thus it has been necessary to prepare indicative estimates from other sources and assumptions. The starting point for this analysis are the estimates of visitor expenditure, which have been made for the years 2005, 2011, 2016,2021 and 2026. But since some of this money is spent in unregistered accommodation the tax associated with this will not be collected and must be ignored. Thus the base for identifying the VAT component of visitor expenditure must be a combination of the figures related to registered accommodation, the figures for VFR expenditure (which excludes payment for accommodation) plus the balance of expenditure, after an allowance is made for accommodation and some meals, made by those staying in unregistered accommodation. Thus we assume the following approach for calculating the contribution of VAT in Table 4.1 below.

Table 4.1: Base Assumptions for Calculating VAT

VAT at 9% VAT at 19%

All Expenditure in Registered Accommodation

50% of all expenditure 50% of all expenditure

Non-VFR Expenditure in Unregistered Accommodation

0% of expenditure 50% of all expenditure

VFR Expenditure Outside 0% of expenditure 100% of all expenditure


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Registered Accommodation Source: Consultant’s Estimates

Table 4.2 below takes the assumptions in Table 4.1 and uses them to analyse the data in Tables 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 to arrive at indicative estimates of VAT contributed by tourism for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in millions of Euros at 2005 values. Table 4.2: Estimated VAT Receipts for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at

2005 Values

Year Estimated VAT Receipts (Million Euros)

2005 323 2011 535 2016 825 2021 1,265 2026 1,900


4.2 Employee Income Tax and Related Payments Employee income tax is paid at a flat rate of 16% for all grades of staff and this is calculated upon the balance of salary remaining once the required 17% health and social insurance charges paid to government have been deducted. In addition, the employers must pay a further 29.1% to cover health, social insurance and related charges. Calculation of these tax and related charges, which are due to government, is again based upon the estimated expenditure figures in Tables 3.4 and 3.5, while expenditure in the unregistered sector is ignored. It is further assumed that staff costs represent some 18% of this expenditure after the deduction of VAT, on the basis that this figure is considered to be a reasonable average for the hotel sector in Romania. Table 4.3 below presents the estimates of tax revenue generated from personal taxation and related payments for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in millions of Euros at 2005 values. Table 4.3: Estimated Income Tax and Related Payments for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and

2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Estimated Income Tax and Related Payments (Million Euros)

2005 110 2011 195 2016 308 2021 481 2026 740



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4.3 Corporate Tax This is a complex area to investigate without the benefit of statistical guidance from the Ministry of Public Finance. The standard rate of corporate profit tax is a flat rate of 16%, but in practice there are numerous deductions available for locational, environmental, human resources, business operational and investment purposes, for example, which make it extremely difficult to establish the amount of tax likely to be paid by businesses. In addition, the gross expenditure being used as a basis for this overall analysis is being spread across a wide range of tourism businesses from registered hotels and guesthouses to small restaurants and handicraft businesses, which between them have a wide range of business profitability and access to tax reduction mechanisms. What has been assumed here therefore, is that a general average profitability of 15% of post VAT turnover (i.e. the total expenditure figures less VAT on this figure represents total turnover, which is then assumed to include a 15% profit component) is taken as the basis for assessing profit tax of 16%. On the basis of this approach the estimated contribution of corporate tax payments are as shown in Table 4.4 below for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 at 2005 values.

Table 4.4: Estimated Corporate Tax Payments for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Estimated Corporate Tax Payments

(Million Euros) 2005 31 2011 55 2016 86 2021 135 2026 207


4.4 Airport Embarkation Tax and Aircraft Landing Charges Incorporated within the passenger air ticket price are charges which relate to passenger departure tax and passenger security charges for both international and domestic flights. Clearly this is in effect a tax on visitors flying internally within Romania and on those departing by air from the country. For the purposes of this analysis we only include international passengers departing from Romania but we do include both international and domestic passengers flying internally since travel for business and leisure purposes is valid for our study. In addition it is also possible to consider aircraft landing charges as a further source of ‘taxation’ which is earned by the government from the tourism sector since the international and domestic airlines must pay the airports to bring their business and leisure visitors into and around the country.


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It has not been possible to collect adequate data from all the Romanian airports but since Bucharest Otopeni handles, by far, the largest percentage of aircraft and air passenger movements in the country it is possible to make national estimates from analysis of overall air passenger numbers and Otopeni’s own data. Embarkation tax and security tax together amounts to an average of 18 Euros per departing passenger. Aircraft landing charges are based upon the weight of the aircraft, although our estimates are based upon average annual income from this source, average annual aircraft movements and air passenger numbers. Assumptions have also been made about the growth in international arrivals by air as a percentage of total international arrivals in order to arrive at the estimates of tax raised. Table 4.5 below shows the estimated revenues to government from these sources for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in million Euros at 2005 values.

Table 4.5: Estimated Revenues from Embarkation Tax and Aircraft Landing Fees for 2005, 2011, 2021, and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Embarkation/Security Taxes

(Million Euros) Aircraft Landing Fees

(Million Euros) Total Revenues (Million Euros)

2005 16.54 4.60 21.14 2011 31.91 8.86 40.77 2016 45.56 12.66 58.22 2021 64.10 17.80 81.90 2026 89.19 24.77 113.96 Source: Henri Coanda Int’l Airport, Romanian National Institute of Statistics and Consultant’s Estimates

4.5 Entrance Fees to Museums Visitor numbers to publicly owned museums have risen from 9.59 million in 2000 to 10.49 million in 2005, demonstrating an average annual growth of around 2% per annum and it is assumed that this level of expansion can be maintained into the future. Entrance charges vary slightly between museums of differing scale and importance and between adults and children but the assumption has been made that each visitor pays an average 10 Lei (including any photographic fees) per visit and Table 4.6 shows the estimated revenues from entrance charges for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026, in million Euros at 2005 values. The Lei has been converted using the rate of 3.6 Lei to the Euro.

Table 4.6: Estimated Revenues from Museum Entrance Charges for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Estimated Visitors

(Millions) Estimated Revenues

(Million Euros) 2005 10.488 29.1 2011 11.580 32.2 2016 12.785 35.5 2021 14.115 39.2 2026 15.584 43.3



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4.6 Municipal Taxes and Charges Numerous local taxes and charges are levied upon and paid by businesses and individuals to the various local administrations. These taxes and charges cover aspects as diverse as building, land and vehicle taxes to construction authorisation, publicity/advertising and hotel bed night taxes. It is likely that most tourism businesses will pay several of these taxes but since they are individually small and difficult to obtain data upon it is assumed that they are effectively rolled up into the assumptions made for estimating the most important of the local taxes affecting tourism which is the bed night tax. This tax, while theoretically having a discretionary range of between 0.5 and 5%, based upon the daily room rate (before tax) of the first night of a visitor’s stay, many local authorities choose a rate towards the higher end of that range and levy it upon every night of a visitor’s stay. For the purposes of these estimates, a rate of 4% has been assumed for the first night only of a guest’s stay in registered accommodation. The expenditure base for this calculation is that of international and domestic stays in registered accommodation, 50% of which is assumed to be accounted for by accommodation. VAT at 9% is deducted and the balance is divided by the average visitor length of stay taken from the ‘Targets of Visitor Accommodation Demand’ table presented earlier (to establish expenditure for a single night’s stay) with the 4% tax being computed from this resulting figure. Table 4.7 below shows the estimates of local bed tax revenues generated for the years 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in million Euros at 2005 values.

Table 4.7: Estimates of Local Bed Tax Revenues for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

Year Estimated Revenues

(Million Euros) 2005 9.7 2011 16.2 2016 24.0 2021 36.0 2026 52.0


4.7 Import Taxes The importation of certain food and beverage items, fixtures, fittings and equipment, construction and building materials generates tax revenues for government. However, as explained earlier in this section, the growing diversity of the economy in the years before accession to the EU, through inward investment and the privatisation programme, assisted the introduction of new manufacturing businesses and the improved quality of existing enterprises, which reduced the need to import many items. Joining the EU replaced the existing national external customs duties with both the EU Common External Tariff and the introduction of Romania into the EU Internal Market


151

which represents a customs free zone between member states. This has the tourism sector impact of significantly diminishing the tax revenues from import duties since the sources much of its import requirements from EU countries exempt from such duties. It is therefore considered reasonable to ignore calculating potential revenues from this source. 4.8 Consolidated Contribution of Tourism to Central and Local Government Revenues Table 4.8 below shows the consolidated position for the estimated contribution of tourism to central and local government revenues for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in million Euros at 2005 values. This Table demonstrates that tourism’s total contribution to government revenues is estimated to grow from around half a billion Euros in 2005 to some 3 billion Euros in 2026, a six-fold increase.

Table 4.8 Consolidated Contribution of Tourism to Central and Local Government Revenues for 2005, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026 in Million Euros at 2005 Values

2005 2011 2016 2021 2026

VAT Charges 323 535 825 1,265 1,900 Personal

Income Tax

110

195

308

481

740 Corporate Profit Tax

31

55

86

135

207

Airport Embark/Land Charges

21

41

58

82

114 Museum Charges

29

32

36

39

43

Municipal Taxes

10

16

24

36

52

Import Taxes N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A TOTAL 524 874 1,337 2,038 3,056

Source: Tables 4.1 to 4.7 and Consultant’s Estimates


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5 Tourism Employment 5.1 Current Situation The availability of statistical data upon employment in the tourism sector is limited. According to the Romanian National Institute of Statistics, a total of 151,000 persons were employed in the ‘Hotel and Restaurants’ sector in 2005, representing some 1.6% of the total working population. Employment in hotels and restaurants represents the most visible type of employment in tourism and generally speaking is the easiest to identify and collect data upon. Yet even here there are difficulties, particularly with the inclusion of restaurants, many of whose staff are working in snack bars, cafés and fast food outlets whose principal customers are local residents and workers rather than domestic or international tourists. These figures, however, correspond to the employees working in registered hotels and restaurants and, as has been pointed out earlier, the existence of a substantial yet unquantifiable number of unregistered hotels and other accommodation providers suggests that the official statistics significantly under represent the actual numbers of persons working in the sector. Additionally, there are numerous other specialist tourism activities whose employment numbers are difficult to identify and whose figures are likely to be incorporated in other categories of economic activity in the official statistics. These include tourism transportation providers, visitor attraction staff, sports and leisure attraction staff, specialist tour companies and tour guides, for example. Official Tour Guides are required to be registered by the National Tourism Authority and to achieve this status they must qualify by meeting a range of standards in foreign language fluency, subject knowledge, familiarity with national history, geography and tourist requirements. However, they register for three years at a time and the available annual registration figures deal only with those registering for the first time and those re-registering so the wider picture of the total number of available registered guides is unclear. It is believed, however, that some 4,000 registered guides are available. To establish greater clarity between the hotel and restaurant components of the employment figures provided by the National Institute of Statistics, the Master Plan human resources specialist has made an analysis of the registered accommodation supply and estimated the numbers currently employed in hotels, guesthouses and other accommodation. Table 5.1 below presents a summary estimate of these employment figures based upon the 2005 accommodation supply data provided by the National Institute of Statistics. Table 5.1: Estimated Registered Accommodation Capacity and Employment in Romania

2005

Type Number of Establishments

Number of Rooms

Assumed Staff to Rooms Ratio

Number of Staff

Hotels/Motels 1,060 74,050 0.9 66,645 Guesthouses 2,916 15,065 1.0 15,065 Self Catering villas, bungalows

894

9,600

0.6

5,760


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Others 205 4,205 0.8 3,364 Total 5,075 102,920 0.9 90,834


5.2 Future Employment Requirements The Master Plan has prepared targets for visitor accommodation demand and translated this into incremental room requirements for the years 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. The additional accommodation sector staff requirements associated with this increase in rooms supply is arrived at by applying the average staff to rooms ratio shown in Table 5.1 above. Table 5.2 below shows the incremental rooms requirements for 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2026 by high, medium and low quality following the visitor accommodation demand targets presented in Section E. Table 5.2: Estimated Additional Room Requirements by Quality for 2011, 2016, 2021, and

2026

Quality 2011 2016 2021 2026 High (4 & 5 star) 2,500 4,900 7,400 9,900 Medium (2 & 3 star) - - 13,100 34,400 Low (1 star & unclassified) - - - -

TOTAL 2,500 4,900 20,500 44,300 Source: Consultant’s Estimates

Table 5.3 below shows the estimated percentage growth in rooms required in the periods 2005 to 2011, 2011 to 2016 etc. assuming the rooms required in Table 5.2 are built. Since no low quality rooms are required to be built the percentage growth has been estimated upon the total number of rooms for 2005 in Table 5.1, less the figure for ‘Other’ rooms, for the 2005-2011 period, to which is then added the required number of rooms built per period, cumulatively, for the following periods.

Table 5.3: Estimated Percentage Growth in Rooms Required in the Periods 2005 to 2011, 2011 to 2016, 2016 to 2021 and 2021 to 2026

2005-2011 2011-2016 2016-2021 2021-2026

Percentage Growth %

2.5

5.0

17

27


The steady growth in rooms required to 2016 accelerates from 2016 to 2026 on the basis of both overall higher levels of international and domestic visitor arrivals, but also on account of extensions in the average length of stay.

Table 5.4 below presents the conversion of the rooms requirements in Table 5.2 to staff requirements using the staff to rooms ratio shown in Table 5.1 above. The figures represent the additional employees required in each period following the estimated expansion in accommodation rooms shown in 5.2 above.


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Table 5.4: Estimated Additional Staff Requirements by Accommodation Quality for 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026

Quality 2011 2016 2021 2026

High (4 & 5 star) 2,500 4,900 7,400 9,900 Medium (2 & 3 star) - - 11,790 30,960 Low (1 star & unclassified) - - - -

TOTAL 2,500 4,900 19,190 40,860 Source: Consultant’s Estimates

romania national tourism master plan 2007 - 2026 introduction

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