- Romania: Room To Grow - Varna
Romania: Room to Grow - Balkanalysis.com
Romania: Room to Grow Balkanalysis.com, AZ - By Oxford Business Group* During the upcoming spring holiday, thousands of Romanians will head south for the beaches of Bulgaria, eschewing their own Black ... |
Additionally, these forms of tourism are less damaging to the environment and local culture than the mass variety, and the potential is there to develop Romania’s relatively unspoiled interior carefully and strategically. Authorities are keen to promote the country’s natural beauty, and have identified the potential for adventure, cultural, eco- and agro-tourism ventures. Direct revenues from tourism in Romania are in fact considerably lower - around $3.6bn, or 2.2% of GDP.Despite its current slump, Romania has a long history as a popular destination. During the Communist era, the honeypot resorts of the Black Sea coast were favourite holiday spots for fellow Warsaw Pact citizens and budget-seeking West Germans, Britons and Scandinavians on package tours. However, as the economies of Central and Eastern Europe contracted as the Soviet Union crumbled, the tourist flood turned into a trickle. Other problems facing the sector include long journeys on poor roads and the unsatisfactory levels of cleanliness on many beaches.Another challenge facing the sector in Romania is the low pay and social stigma attached to jobs in the industry. This will help to diversify business away from the often crowded and concrete coastal resorts, which, for the time being at least, have limited appeal. When the inhabitants of these countries began to become more affluent in the late 1990s, they had the freedom to travel to a new range of other destinations, many of which appeared more attractive than Romania, itself in the midst of economic crisis and political turmoil. While the number of people employed in tourism is forecast to reach 304,000 this year, up 10,000 on 2007, such positions are still considered a last resort for many people.
