Media institutions with big international impact such as CNN,Huffington Post or The Guardian have written about Romania andDracula this past weekend, but the government has not yet realisedhow much money Romania could make if it were promoted as a touristdestination around this special time for the Western world,Halloween.
The only one who realised what a Dracula Fest can mean is themayor of Arefu commune in Argeş county (where the Poienari castleof Vlad Ţepeş - Vlad the Impaler - is located), who organises aDracula Fest festival, but... in August, with no help from thestate. An airline, Carpatair and the pubs in downtown Bucharest,too, thought of preparing special offers for foreign tourists atthis time of the year.
Based on more or less fictional facts, the Dracula brand has become"stuck" to Romania, with journalists around the world rememberingRomania mostly around the time of Halloween. But to no avail.
Instead of relying heavily on this internationally assimilatedbrand, officials of the Ministry of Tourism and of RegionalDevelopment say Romania's promotion abroad does not include "usingDracula's legend," because brand research revealed that "the mostcompetitive travel products" are cultural tours, rural tourism,active tourism, balneal tourism, and city breaks.
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