Travel Fair in Bucharest
Every year in autumn Bucharest plays host to the International Travel Fair, the most important event of its kind in Romania.
România Internațional, 14.11.2014, 14:16
Over 200 travel agents from 14 countries will be presenting their offers this weekend as part of the 32nd edition of the International Travel Fair in Romania. Travel agents from Austria, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Spain, Turkey and Hungary will present travel packages for the winter holidays but also for next year. The participation of the Palestinian Authority for Tourism marks a novelty this year. Organizers say this is the perfect place to discover the most beautiful destinations in Romania and broad. Delia Botan, a sales manager with the Romexpo Exhibition Centre, explains:
Delia Botan: “The offer is extremely varied, consisting of destinations both at home and abroad. In Romania, the most popular are the resorts in Prahova Valley and areas of Maramures and Bukovina. As regards destinations abroad, Romanians opt for ski packages in Austria, France, Italy or Switzerland, but also summer packages in Greece or Turkey”.
The offer for next year is also very generous, and those who book a holiday to Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey or the Romanian seacoast may benefit from a discount of up to 40%. Minister Delegate for SMEs, the Business Environment and Tourism Florin Jianu said Romania featured in many travel guides and publications across the world, which is reflected in the large number of foreign tourists. In the first nine months of the year the number of tourists increased by 11% as compared to the same period of 2013. Jianu went on to say that to uphold this rising trend, some 100 tourism info-points would be set up by the end of the year.
Attending the fair was his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolina Angelkova, who said that Romania was a key market for Bulgarian tourists and a trusted partner of Bulgaria. The two officials agreed to look at ways of promoting joint tourist projects, with a view to attracting visitors from around the world. Furthermore, the vice-president of Federation of Tourism Employers Dragos Raducan said that hotelkeepers want to promote Bucharest as a Christmas destination, and will thus try to attract tourists from the country in the first phase and subsequently from abroad.
To this end, hotels in Bucharest are willing to cut prices for a weekend stay in Bucharest to as much as 50%. According to the president of the National Association of Travel Agents (ANAT) Lucia Morariu, in 2014 Romania has become more appealing for foreign tourists. Most tourists are interested in business, health and cultural tourism.
