Today we continue the series of shows
\ndevoted to our prize-winning competition Alba Iulia – The City of the Union.
\nWe return to southwestern Transylvania to learn more about one of the European
\ncities with an established tourist and commercial brand. The other capital
\ncity, alongside the message Welcome to Romania’s biggest citadel! are the
\ntwo slogans under which the city of Alba Iulia is being promoted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carmen Preja, with the Alba Iulia
\nNational Information and Promotion Centre tells us more about the city:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
First of all we are happy to
\nreceive guests. We are glad to be the focus of attention for the whole country
\nand we are eager to offer tourists a lot of information and a wide range of
\nevents. Once in Alba Iulia, visitors can find a lot of information on our
\nwebsite tourism.apulum.ro The agenda of events is also posted there. Through
\nthis website, we can keep in touch easier with both Romanian and foreign
\ntourists. We are welcoming you all to Alba Iulia, to discover the city’s
\nmillennium-old history.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are several
\nprojects unfolding inside the citadel, says Carmen Preja:<\/p>\n
One of
\nthem is entitled Discover the cultural heritage of Alba Iulia. As part
\nof this project, all 64-tourist attractions in the city will be equipped with
\nQuick Response codes. Thus, tourists will be able to enjoy both tradition and
\nmodernity. The codes can be scanned with the help of smart phones. Each code
\nsends tourists to the story of the object or site they are visiting. Old and
\nnew music festivals and theatre and film festivals are also held inside the
\ncitadel. There are also activities dedicated to both children and seniors.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tourist
\ninformation center is located just across the Orthodox Cathedral in Alba Iulia.
\nTourists who get there will receive all the information they need:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We
\nfirst show them the map of the citadel. People are usually amazed by how large
\nit is, as it covers 110 hectares. Its beauty has been emphasized due to some
\nprojects funded by the European community. Then we present them the attractions
\nto be visited, their history and the events under way. We also assist them with
\nfinding accommodation. We suggest them restaurants that suite their taste, we
\nhelp them purchase travel tickets and we offer them any other information they
\nmight need. Our tourist materials are printed in German, English and Romanian.
\nEnglish and German are international languages spoken by most of our tourists.
\nMoreover, one of my colleagues speaks Greek, and we also offer information in
\nItalian. So we can help all tourists, irrespective of their nationality.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Visitors are
\nimpressed with the beauty of the citadel in Alba Iulia. The citadel is made up of seven bastions and has all
\nthe fortification elements required by the military technique of the time. One
\ncan enter the citadel through one of its six gates, most of them decorated with
\nstatues and bas-reliefs. Out of the
\ngenerous accommodation offer, one can pick a hotel erected in 1972, which has
\nbeen fully refurbished.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iulia Gus, the marketing manager of Transylvania hotel
\nin Alba Iulia, tells us more about it:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Visitors will have the opportunity to stay in a hotel embued with tradition,
\nbut will also enjoy the comfort they want, especially if we speak about
\ntourists who demand certain quality standards. Foreign tourists will see with
\ntheir own eyes that Romania can keep up with international standards. We have
\njust received Top Hotel Award and we are happy that the city of the Union has a
\nhotel at international standards. We also have special offers. They depend on
\nthe time of the visit and on the services required. We have tourist packages
\nwith meals and trips included. This year we have also received families with
\nchildren. There are families that come here to spend the weekend together. We
\nhave a special programme for them, helping them discover as much of the city as
\npossible, from its history to nature and culture. Many people ask us about
\nporcelain, so we suggest them several shops where they can find the souvenirs
\nthey want.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why do tourists
\nchoose Alba Iulia? Iulia Gus explains:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
First
\nof all, there are the festivals that take place here all summer long. Alba
\nFest, three days of concerts and shows, has just ended. We have music and film
\nfestivals all summer. There are many events dedicated to the young people.
\nAlso, Alba Iulia and its surroundings offer many opportunities for spending
\ntime in the middle of nature. Then there is the Mures River for boat ride,
\nrafting and canoe lovers. There is also the reserve in Cetea, the only place in
\nthe world where canyoning, also known as waterfall rappelling, can be practiced. Only three kilometres
\naway from our hotel there is a deondrological park, an excellent place for
\nwalks and cycling. We also have an adventure park and we’ll soon have an Aqua
\nPark, which is due to open on July 1st.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tourists come to Alba Iulia from all
\nover the world, according to Carmen Preja from the Alba Iulia Tourist and
\nPromotion Center:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We have the pleasure of welcoming tourists from very exotic places,
\nsuch as Peru, Chile, New Zealand and Japan. Most tourists who come from Europe
\nare from the western countries. We are glad to see that when they get here they
\nare amazed by what they see. In a way, visitors from the west European
\ncountries find here some roots that they have lost along the years. I remember
\na couple from the US, who came with the intention of spending two weeks in Romania.
\nBut they had already spent two months in Romania. They came to the information
\ncentre in Alba Iulia and we talked for two hours. They just couldn’t get enough
\nof Romania and they couldn’t decide to leave. So, all of you are most welcome
\nto Alba Iulia, not only in an anniversary year, but whenever you want. Come and
\ndiscover a new destination and its warm people, always happy to see you share
\ntheir stories with you.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We remind you that you can
\nsend your answers to the contest questions by June 30, 2018, mailing date (by
\nJune 30, at 24.00 Romania’s time for the online participants).<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We continue the series of shows devoted to our prize-winning competition Alba Iulia – The City of the Union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43423],"tags":[31256,39268,44154,34753],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-149333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travellers-guide","tag-alba-iulia","tag-alba-iulia-the-city-of-the-union","tag-citadel","tag-contest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n