rtk Romania - a new association in the field of tourism

Raiffeisen Touristik Group GmbH (rtk) announced yesterday the opening of the local subsidiary in our country, during a press conference held by Thomas Boesl - Director Strategy & International Business Development and Radu Colfescu - Managing Partner rtk Romania (rtk International subsidiary).

Thomas Boesl stated: "The rtk group is already active in many European countries and supports the distribution of tourist services, having an extensive product portfolio. In addition to established tour operators, the rtk group has a dense network of partnerships with hotels, airlines, destinations and tourism service providers. In addition, rtk will use its decades of expertise in other international markets to strengthen a network of affiliated travel agencies in Romania, where each agency will remain independent. In this sense, rtk Romania will have the role of a neutral organization for the affiliated travel agencies and will offer them support in the fields of: marketing, technical support, product training and the consolidation of an attractive portfolio of service providers for the Romanian market".

With a team that has extensive experience in the tourism industry, rtk Romania aims to bring innovative services and support local travel agencies in developing partnerships and independent distribution of tourism services.

rtk Romania was established in April 2024 and holds a license as an organizing tourism agency, and will soon be affiliated to ANAT. The partners are rtk international (80%) and Radu Colfescu (20%), a professional with over 25 years of experience in tourism. rtk does not operate as a tour operator, but as a tourism association representing the interests of travel agencies in relation to tour operators and international suppliers. The rtk model focuses on solid partnership principles based on trust, mutual respect and equality.

As a neutral organization, rtk Romania is at the disposal of all affiliated travel agencies in our country, focusing on B2B sales, which means that the company will not act as a competitor for travel agencies. A distribution of the products in the B2C segment is not planned in the near future. By supporting the common interests of affiliated travel agencies, rtk emphasizes the independent distribution of travel services.

Radu Colfescu - Managing Partner rtk Romania - said: "I believe that each agency affiliated to rtk Romania will be able to develop independently, benefiting from all our support and experience in the relationship with the international suppliers in the portfolio. rtk will be an important player in the outgoing segment, making available to affiliated agencies in Romania a wide range of tourist services at competitive prices. Other goals for the future could include establishing a "franchise" distribution model or own tour operation activities. By the end of next year, we hope that approximately 200 travel agencies and tour operators from our country will join RTK Romania".

His Majesty stated that, in order to effectively and professionally manage the relationship with the affiliated agencies, rtk Romania will establish a specialized support department and provide training and assistance at the highest possible level. In addition, the marketing department will provide support to partners in order to promote the products in the portfolio and strengthen the turnover. Also, the partners of rtk Romania will benefit from the know-how of rtk international, acquired through the presence of several years on various European markets. Information and terms from various service providers need not be obtained or negotiated separately by each agency, but will be brokered by rtk and made available to affiliated agencies.

In a first phase, rtk Romania will focus on the outgoing segment, to be able to offer Romanian customers, through affiliated agencies, the best possible products, for any destination, with an excellent quality-price ratio. Thanks to an extensive portfolio of international suppliers, the range of tourist services on the Romanian market will be constantly improved. In a later stage, it is also possible to promote incoming tourism in Romania, through the network of over 3,000 travel agencies affiliated with rtk international.

The rtk international group was founded in 2003 and has a turnover of 2.3 billion euros. The main activity is intermediation in the field of leisure business in the B2B and B2C relationship, the group collaborating with all important European tour operators, with hoteliers, but also with local public administrations, destination management organizations, insurers and technology providers. In Europe, rtk international has two headquarters - one in Germany and one in Luxembourg -, four local subsidiaries in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Romania, partner organizations in France, Switzerland and Italy and other affiliated European travel agencies.