Golden Sands, the favorite resort of Romanian tourists

Golden Sands continues to remain the favorite resort in Bulgaria for Romanian tourists, if we take into account the fact that they spend there not only their vacations during the summer season, but also the holidays of Easter, Pentecost, May 1, Christmas or even New Year's Eve.

Why do Romanians choose to spend their free time in Bulgaria and not in Romania? First of all, because hoteliers from the neighboring country are more efficient than ours, making available early-booking offers immediately after the end of the summer season, offers that have much lower all-inclusive rates than those in Romania. Thus, while for five nights of accommodation, the rate at a 4-star hotel in Bulgaria starts from 138 euros/person, in our country it is 255.6 euros/person.

Secondly, there is a big difference between Bulgarian hoteliers and Bulgarian hoteliers regarding the concept of all-inclusive, where the southern neighbors seem to be able to teach us lessons on tourism development at any time. The hotel rooms are spacious, following the modernization of the accommodation spaces, being equipped, in addition to the double bed or the two beds, with an extendable sofa, which can be used as needed. In the room of a four-star hotel, there is a coffee or tea machine, and tourists can access for free (being included in the price of the all-inclusive offer) drinks from the mini-fridge inside, related sweets and other delicacies. In the hotel hallways you can find water and coffee machines and you don't have to go down to the reception. At the pools, you are offered pizza, snacks, sweets and drinks between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. The food is more than acceptable, the quality-price ratio being one in favor of the tourists, without any discount from the quality.

The beaches look great in Golden Sands and you won't see any cigarette butts or seashells and the sea water is free of algae and boulders. We also mention the menus written in Romanian, not only at the hotel where you are staying, but also in all the locations on the seafront, a fact meant to make you feel at home.

Maybe that's why many families with children from our country choose to go to the seaside in Bulgaria. Especially since in their hotels you can't really get bored, even if the weather is bad. Children have plenty of slides, pools and games rooms where they can have fun with Play Station and many other games. Adults can play billiards, table tennis or go to the sauna, massage and even a shopping session at the malls in Varna or Balchik, benefiting from free transport from the hotels.

"The degree of occupancy of hotels in Golden Sands in the middle of the summer season, i.e. in the months of July and August, is between 90% and 100%. For example, in the resort, we have one of the best-selling four-star hotels on the Bulgarian coast for Romanian tourists. It is about the Prestige Deluxe Hotel Aquapark Club, which recorded spectacular growth in the summer season that is just ending, 75% of the reservations being made by families with children from our country", Lucian Bădârcea, CEO of the tour operator IRI Travel, told us.

"The most important reservation was made this year on the occasion of Pentecost, when someone reserved 11 rooms for 11 families composed of three adults and children each. During the entire summer season, 75% of the hotel's capacity was booked by Romanian tourists, with peaks in July and August, when 85% of the hotel's rooms were for Romanian tourists. That is why we have also diversified the services offered and tourists benefit in the all-inclusive package of free certain SPA therapies or massages, and for children we have built two new tobogans, we have set up a room where they can play on the play-station. We have a children's corner equipped with Montessori toys, as well as an outdoor children's entertainment center surrounded by greenery, which has swings, slides, climbing frames and more. Added to all this is access to a water park with 11 outdoor and indoor water slides, two pools for adults and children, a swimming area, an indoor heated pool, sunbeds, umbrellas and pool towels. The pleasure is completed with our spa area - heated indoor pool, sauna, jacuzzi, salt room, steam room, relaxation area, massages, fitness center. We also have an escape room, pool tables, table tennis space and we rent bicycles for free for children and adults to walk around the resort", Angelica Chirica, marketing manager of the Prestige Deluxe Hotel Aquapark Club, told us.

In these conditions, the prepared stay seems a perfect one compared to the Romanian coast.

I asked Angelica Chirica what the Romanian hoteliers on the coast of our country who have an all-inclusive regime lack, in order to attract more tourists.

"I believe it is not understood exactly in Romania what the concept of all-inclusive means. When you implement this concept in a tourist unit, you have to take into account all the situations, all the needs, of all the people who will stay in that hotel, starting from children to adults. You must be prepared so that, if the child wants a hamburger or a certain bread specialty, you do not send the family through the resort to another location to get food for the minor, but you give him what he wants in advance this. The tourist, regardless of age, must be the focus of the hotelier's attention, because if the tourist is satisfied with the services received, he will return not just once, but twice or even three times, even in the same summer season. We have examples of Romanian tourists at our hotel who, for several years, book two or three stays per season, which means that the services we offer are appreciated. That's why we are always looking to improve and diversify the range of these services offered to tourists as much as possible", Angelica Chirica, marketing manager at Prestige Deluxe Hotel Aquapark Club, told us.

It is certain that whether we are talking about Easter, May 1st, Pentecost, summer season, Christmas or New Year's Eve, for over 10 years we have observed the same tendency of Romanian tourists to book an all-inclusive holiday in the resorts on the Bulgarian coast, considering that hoteliers from the neighboring country offer much better services in terms of quality-price compared to Romanian hoteliers.

Are we still surprised under these conditions, that in the first six months of 2023, Bulgaria had over 4 million foreign tourists, and Romania barely reached the milestone of 870,000?