ION ANTONESCU, MARSHAL TURISM: Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece are the most popular beachside destinations

Viviani Mirică

The precarious economic context, as well the excessively high rates for Romanian seaside holidays, in comparison with foreign destinations, are factors which cause tourists to think twice before choosing the Romanian seaside as their holiday destination.

Ion Antonescu, manager of travel agency Marshal Turism, said that this year, Romanians favored foreign locations over the Romanian seaside, with Turkey holding the top spot, followed by Bulgaria and Greece. Rates for holidays in Romanian resorts can be 30-40% higher than those of resorts in Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, Ion Antonescu said. What"s more, the quality/price ratio is definitely better when making a holiday in one of the aforementioned countries which made them extremely popular this summer season.

Eximtur: The occupancy rate for Black Sea resorts will shrink 20-25%

This summer season, Black Sea resorts will see a 20-25% drop in their occupancy rate, Radu Morariu, the manager of Eximtur, said for "Bursa". According to the most recent data from the National Association of Romanian Travel Agencies (ANAT), the number of tourists that spent their holiday on the Romanian seaside dropped 30-35% compared to the June 2008.

However, Ion Antonescu, the manager of Marshal Turism, says that demand for holidays in Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece has dropped as well. He says that aggregate demand for seaside holidays in the aforementioned countries and on the Romanian seaside has dropped 20-40% since the beginning of summer, compared to the similar period of 2008.

Marshal Turism saw demand for the Romanian seaside alone drop 25% YOY since the beginning of the summer. In the case of Eximtur, the drop in demand for holidays at the Romanian seaside was less drastic (-15%), when compared to last year"s holiday season.

Even though it had large expectations from the "early booking" system, the latter only accounted for 5% of the seaside holiday packages sold by Marshal Turism.

Approximately 25% of seaside holiday packages sold by Eximtur by the end of July were paid for in the "early booking" package.

As a result of dropping demand for holidays on the domestic seaside experienced by the two agencies we interviewed, their earnings dropped considerably. Radu Morariu said that earnings of Marshal Turism for domestic Black Sea holiday packages sold so far this year dropped 15%, compared to 2008. Whereas in 2008, Marshal Turism sold domestic holiday packages amounting to 300,000 lei, this year we only sold holiday packages worth 200,000 lei, Ion Antonescu said.

Although travel packages outside the regular season remain the final solution for the recovery of the domestic seaside tourism, the manager of Marshal Turism thinks that not even a 50% rate cut will help stimulate demand for holidays at the Romanian seaside.