Romanian Dailyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953fresh business news about Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat139532010-07-30T01:06:21+00:00Romanian DailyenRomanian seaside is no longer “on top”http://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art0694199111/
Bucharest - State institutions appear to have lost control in the attempt to
turn the Romanian seaside into something functional and attractive, along
with the fact that most of the companies try to make maximum profit within
minimum amounts of time.
Considering only that Ministry of Tourism leadership has changed several
times, has turned the seaside into something equivalent with chaos, so that
the explanations provided by the important tour operators for foreign
tourists have become commonplace: bad services, poor accommodation,
uncertain tourist safety.
On the other side, there were few foreign investments in the field and far
from being encouraging. Privatisation of hotels has been a failure. The
manner of drafting privatisation contracts, with unclear liabilities, which
the new owners should know clearly following the take-over of the tourist
asset, has produced a total mess at the seaside. Local authorities are also
blamable, ignoring the chance that a tourist resort can bring for the local
budget. Major investments were not registered in any of the resorts, and
none of them has developed intelligent strategies, able to stimulate tourism
and implicitly to result in higher revenues to the budget.
One sole achievement has been registered following the entrance fare in
Mamaia, but the social price paid did nothing else than inducing fierce
opposition among the Romanians and politicians. The mistakes in having the
Romanian tourism recovered have continued by putting the beaches forward for
rental. Companies have refused to participate in tenders, beaches remained
as they were, without anyone to look for them, on large areas, whereas, a
few steps further, on the lands belonging to the Town Hall, primitive
developments were the only ones to represent the commercial life of the
seaside.
The President of National Tourism Authority (ANT) also admitted that tourism
issues could not be overcome. In an interview for “Capital” magazine, he
launched accusations against several investors at the Black Sea, considering
the seaside as the “black spot” of the Romanian tourism.
During the summer season of 2005, the number of those spending their holiday
at the seaside dropped by 10 per cent as against the previous year, down to
680,000 tourists, out of whom 100,000 were foreigners. Only 25,000 foreign
tourists are expected this year, and the number of Romanians coming to the
seaside will decrease by more than 30 per cent. According to ANAT, the
occupation degree of Mamaia resort is expected to be 70 per cent for this
month, 60 per cent in Eforie Nord, 60 per cent in Jupiter, 50 per cent in
Saturn and 30 to 50 per cent in the remaining resorts.
The latest study released by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
points out that Romania has an under-capitalised tourist potential. The
frequent changes of the top positions leading tourism, the under-funding and
the inappropriate allocation of funding for promotion, along with the poor
quality of services have resulted in Romania losing billions of EUR. The
survey was estimating, in an optimistic voice, that tourism and travel will
contribute by 4.8 per cent to GDP in 2006. Over the next ten years, the
estimation points out a real annual growth rate of 6.7 per cent for tourism
and travels in Romania. Until 2016, the estimation indicates a share of 5.8
per cent of the GDP.
The attempts made by the Romanian authorities toward the recovery of the
Romanian tourism are rather vague. On Tuesday, ANT launched a new campaign
for promoting Romanian destinations in the internal market, the value of the
promotional materials and their dissemination being close to EUR 800,000.
The campaign will be run under the slogan “A journey is a life lesson. Find
tourist Romania” and it will target written, audio and video mass media over
July – December 2006, according to an ANT press release.
source ]]>2006-07-27T08:33:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraTurism Hoteluri & Restaurante S.A. Prahova Increases Share Capitalhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art1260762932/
The 37,840,000 shares left unsubscribed after the expiry of the preemptive
rights period have been nullified. The majority shareholder is SIF
Transilvania with 89.49 percent of the shares. TUSI shares peaked at 0.74
RON/share in February and then declined to 0.13 RON/share yesterday.
source ]]>2006-07-26T09:12:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraCendant introduces motel brandhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art1175878928/
"We want to build motels on all the main routes, on highways and major
national roads. The motels will be developed on main roads, outside the
cities," Tinu Sebesanu, general manager of Trend Hospitality, which
coordinates Cendant's operations in Romania told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
Super 8 will tackle the motel segment by developing at least 10 sites,
Cendant officials say.
"This is a large untapped market. Everything that is there now does not have
standardised services," Sebesanu says.
"The thing about motels is to do a lot of things. You don't just get a plot
and build a motel on it; you need at least ten plots of land to begin
development," a Trend Hospitality representative explains.
The company is part of the Altrom group, controlled by businessman Gabriel
Popoviciu.
The investment, which is estimated at 2-2.5 million euros per location, will
be made either by the group of companies owned by Popoviciu, or by private
investors that will receive the franchise for the Super 8 brand.
On average each motel will have 50 rooms and prices will vary depending on
location.
The development of the project will take about a year and a half once
locations have been selected, Sebesanu says.
The Cendant hotel chain is already present on the Romanian market with the
Howard Johnson (the five-star Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, Bucharest) and the
Ramada (Ramada Majestic, Bucharest). By 2007, the group plans to have added
four more locations to its portfolio, three of which will be in Bucharest
and one in Sibiu.
Cendant
First foreign player on the motel segment
Will introduce its Super 8 brand on the market next year
Will open at least ten motels
Investment per location is estimated at 2-2.5m euros
Development set to take about 18 months after locations are
chosen
Each motel will have an average of 50 rooms
Already present with Howard Johnson and Ramada hotel brands
source ]]>2006-07-26T07:09:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraNew tourism promotional campaign http://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art3919628593/ source ]]>2006-07-25T07:53:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraANT chief: “The littoral is the black spot of Romanian tourism”http://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art1294199743/
Ovidiu Marian, chief of the National Authority for Tourism criticised
severely, in an interview published in the magazine ‘Capital,’ the
management from the sea shore, and the one practised by the tourism
agencies, which he called “a former flower shop or a newsstand where
business is made.”
The problem signalled by ANT president is the flawed privatisation of the
hotels on the sea shore, which were acquired in order to be re-sold after
the integration with the EU “for EUR 3-4 million,” or simply to have “real
estate guarantees” without necessarily investing in them. Important voices
from the Romanian and international tourism state however that the
destination Romania is less and less visible on the tourist map of the
world, in favour of the Bulgarian neighbours who have succeeded to develop a
flourishing sector. The absence of a national strategy in this domain, the
flawed privatisations, and the idea to grant the beaches under concession to
other investors than the hotel owners have conducted to the present
situation of tourism on the Romanian Black Sea shore.
In an access of sincerity, Ovidiu Marian declared: “I am fed up with this
littoral!” The littoral is “the black spot of the Romanian tourism.”
According to him “the European Union will wipe out all of them... 50 per
cent of the owners from the current littoral will disappear in the next
three years.” As a reaction to the interview given by ANT president, the
representatives of the owners’ associations from tourism “back the idea of
the minister secretary of state to leave ANT management,” according to a
press release.
ANT representatives also say that “the specialists from tourism are
intrigued by the vocabulary, the implicit or explicit swearing addressed
specifically or in general, considering that, regardless of the situation,
only a dialogue and a communication based on respect can solve any
situation.” Although launched one month earlier, the summer season
inaugurated on May 1 seems to not enjoy a spectacular number of tourists,
especially that the week-end tourism has increased in the last few years.
Not at all negligible is also the increase appetite of the Romanians to
spend their holidays abroad.
Unlike us, our neighbours from the Southeast of Romania, the Bulgarians,
enjoy on the one hand successful privatisations in tourism, beaches well
organised in a proportion of 80 per cent, some of the areas being certified
according to the international standards. This explains the income derived
by the Bulgarians from tourism and the increased tendency of the tourists to
choose the Bulgarian littoral as holiday destination. The tariffs, most of
the times lower than on the Romanian littoral, add to the quality and the
services.
source ]]>2006-07-21T05:40:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraEximtur expects turnover to reach 25m euroshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art0967750938/
Eximtur reported turnover worth 20 million euros in 2005. In order to
maintain the company's pace of growth, Lucia Morariu has decided not only to
increase the number of agencies located in major cities, but also to expand
onto the Internet and earmark an advertising budget that should allow the
company to efficiently promote its products.
"All these strategies are not only meant to help the company maintain the
same growth pace, but will also develop on the market next year, as after EU
accession, tourism through unions will disappear and tour-operators expect
demand for domestic travel to drop even further for 2007," stated the
general manager of Eximtur.
In the opinion of Lucia Morariu, Romanian tourism continues to bank on
business travel, boasting a 70% growth potential, as well as on the
finalisation of projects that are under construction, such as the completion
of work on the Sun highway.
"We are trying to counter the overall market decline, which has, at least on
the seaside, come to 35-40%. Our target is to reach at least last year's
level in terms of sales and we will keep up our position by raising the
number of agencies. We opened the agency in Timisoara North in 2005, but
because it's located in a mall-type space it does not yielded notable
results. However, the agency in Oradea fares very well. In the first year of
activity, this agency reached the level of the Baia Mare agency and we
believe it will have a solid contribution to turnover. The new agency in
Bucharest has also posted positive results and we intend to open a second
agency there this year," stated the general manager of Eximtur.
One of the markets that has the biggest growth potential for Eximtur is
Bucharest. "We derive growth by 58% on this market, not due to market
growth, but because we have lured customers from competitors," adds Lucia
Morariu.
One of Eximtur's strategies is to direct part of orders to the web
page.
source ]]>2006-07-21T05:18:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraHealth resorts must brush up http://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art1449701214/
National interest health resorts must have a minimum of 500 accommodation
places, while those of local interest must have at least 100 places.
The organization of cultural, sporting and touristic events will become
mandatory in such cities. Other mandatory criteria for the licensing of a
health resort will regard the schedule in which trains circulate. A
government decision requires trains offer reservation services and sleeping
cars to stop in all the health resorts that are of national interest. This
category of health resorts must also provide medical services,
transportation for emergency cases, conferences spaces, shops, banking
services and tourism agencies.
"Health resorts of local interest must assure at least two facilities for
outdoor relaxation, including sports facilities and playgrounds, while in
the health resorts that are of national interest the number of such spaces
must be at least five," said Marian.
ANT pointed out there are 37 health resorts of national interest and 45 of
local interest.
source ]]>2006-07-19T07:20:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraDanish investment in rural tourism in Mureshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art2534860159/
According to officials from the Mures County Council, the 12 houses can
accommodate up to 60 tourists and have been booked until the year-end.
Tourists will be flown in from the airports in Copenhagen and Billund to
Targu Mures. A ticket for this route costs some 350 euros. Among the tourist
attractions is a real life experience in a cow farm, the daily says.
source ]]>2006-07-18T11:08:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraBaile Felix to be turned into a spahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art1447477870/
In the next three years, the company is to include other companies involved
in health tourism. The purpose of this is to create a strong and clearly
distinguishable structure, which would not target just health tourism, but
also luxury tourism, with relaxation and prophylactic centres for tourists,
not just for patients, as are the intentions of majority shareholder, SIF
Transilvania.
source ]]>2006-07-18T07:02:00+00:00TourismIulianBulandraDracula Park wants to float on stock exchange http://romaniandaily.ro/cat13953/art0553371154/
The Dracula park project was launched in November 2001, with Sighisoara as
its first location. Due to the public's opposition to the location, the
project was moved to Snagov on a site owned by the state and administered by
RA-APPS. The government recently canceled the status of industrial park it
had initially granted the project as an inquiry showed the land in question
did not fulfill the requirements of an industrial park. Moreover, the state
had contributed 400 million euros (the value of the 460 hectare plot) while
the Dracula Park company had made no material contribution.
Director General of Dracula Park, Sorin Marica said the company intends to
sue RA-APPS for canceling the agreement as one clause in the association
contract forbids the unilateral canceling of the deal unless the party that
does so pays damages to the other. Marica claims Romanian and foreign
businessmen have shown interest in building a race track, a hippodrome, a
marine park, a hotel-restaurant and a golf course, but are waiting for the
legal situation of the company to be clarified. Dracula Park has 13,804
shareholders and a nominal capital of about 82 billion lei (2.3 million
euros).