Romania’s Travel Fair In Its 43rd Edition

The 43rd edition of Romanias Travel Fair was held between February 20 and 23 in Bucharest

Daniel Onea, 27.02.2020, 14:45

The 43rd edition of Romania’s Travel Fair was held between February 20 and 23 in the capital Bucharest. The fair brought together the most cost-effective holiday offers. Adrian Vlaicu, the marketing manager of the railway operator CFR Calatori, says that irrespective of the destination, we should all use a more environment friendly transportation means:

“CFR Calatori provides domestic and international transportation. It has direct connections to Vienna, Budapest, Sofia, Istanbul and Chisinau. People who want to travel by train can get to Romania from these cities. We have many travel offers at domestic level, depending on the degree of comfort requested by customers and on the country’s regions. They are all posted on our website, and our staff is trained to offer all the necessary information for tourists to make the best choice.”

The Black Sea coast was well represented at the fair this year. The stalls included pictures of the Romanian resorts. Camelia Ciurea, head of a travel agency in Cosntanta, tells us more about it:

“We have been promoting the Black Sea coast for 20 years now. Investment has been significant in the past few years and the change is visible. The old two-star hotels in Neptun, for instance, have been bought by investors and are being refurbished. Many of them will be open to tourists starting this year and they welcome tourists with an all-inclusive concept, with swimming pools and children’s playgrounds. They have been turned into 3 or 4-star hotels. We also organize 1-day optional trips. The Danube Delta is in the highest demand in this respect. We pick up tourists from the hotel, we take them to the village of Murighiol, and offer them boat trips through the Delta for about three hours. We also offer them lunch specific of this area, based on fish dishes. Most tourists have never been to the Danube Delta and are very happy they have this opportunity.”

Andrei Razvan Sorica is a winemaker at the Hamangia cellar. He tells us his opinion on which the best destination for tourists is:

“The Danube Delta and Tulcea county are not to be missed. We have a big delta, we have the sea, the Macin Mountains, and a large variety of wines. We have beautiful vineyards and cellars so tourists can find exciting things to do in this area. In terms of cuisine, there are a lot of places that offer delicious fish dishes.”

Dan Carpov, the head of the Tourist Information and Promotion Centre in Maramures says that the Visit Maramures app can be the perfect guide for tourists on holiday in northern Romania:

“We are proud to be taking part in the spring edition of Romania’s Travel Fair. It is a very important event for us. We have a lot of offers for the Easter holiday. Our app for mobile devices has been updated to include all events held in Maramures this year. We so far have around 11 thousand downloads. Given that Western Europe is very well organized in terms of tourism, and the fact that we try to apply this model here, our app has been recommended for green and rural tourism by Western travel agents. 2020 is the year of rural and green tourism and we are in line with this trend.”

Hunedoara also comes to the aid of tourists with an app. Here is Camelia Bedea, director of the Hunedoara County Social and Economic Development Agency:

“This is a county full of history, traditions, and very nice people. In order to help tourists, foreign or domestic, we have recently commissioned a mobile tourism app, Discover Hunedoara. With it you can find all the information you need for accommodation units, traditional products, and events. It has ten modules, and is a complete tourism guide.”

At the same stand we met Sorin Tincu, director of the Corvinus Castle museum in Hunedoara:

“This is one of the best preserved 15th century monuments in Romania, perhaps even the whole of Southeast Europe. In parallel, you have an opportunity to find out all you would wish about the history of Transylvania. The castle is in good condition. Right now we are doing restoration work that is scheduled to last two years. During this time, visits are still going on, but with some restrictions in the areas under work.”

Alina Ferent represents the Piatra Neamt Center for Tourism Information and Promotion.

“This is an area with plenty of opportunities for entertainment. There are many possibilities for spending your vacation, both in the city and in the surroundings. On a radius of about 40 km around the city, there are loads of trips to centuries-old monasteries. We have nature reserves that you can trek. The Bicaz Gorges are unique in Romania. There, the cliff sides rise up to 300 meters on the side of the road. Neamt County is the only one in Romania where aurochs are roaming free in restricted areas, being acclimatized.”

Viorica Flocea, a traditional craft artist from Campulung Moldovenesc, in Bukovina, gave us a demonstration of egg painting:

“I have a workshop at home, which can be visited, where I work with a group of children. I also cater to tourists who want to watch and learn how its done. We have tourists from lots of countries, like France and Britain. For them it was a unique experience. In plain areas they use flower and leaf motifs, but here in the mountains we use geometric shapes. Our areas colors are brown and black.”

Traian Badulescu, tourism consultant and vice-president of the Romanian Tourism Press Club, told us that this years tourism fair was a real success:

“I am glad to see more and more regional associations present here, with more and more animated stands belonging to county councils. Not only do they look good, but they have plenty to offer. On display are tourist attractions, traditions, and cuisine. I liked a lot the stand that Tulcea County had. Dobrogea has been promoting very good wines for the last few years, made by small and medium sized winegrowers. New destinations are on offer. More and more tourists are coming to Bucharest on city break. We have had significant increase in tourist traffic in Transylvania too, in Oradea, Timisoara, and all the cities that have airline connections with western cities.”

Along those four days, visitors could take advantage of discounts for all tourist destinations in Romania. The next edition of the Romanian Travel Fair will take place in November.