Holidays abroad could become 10% more expensive in the coming years

Romanians who holiday abroad could pay at least 10% more in the coming years for holiday packages, due to an increase in fuel prices, and consequently air travel costs. "This year, travel agencies have compensated for the higher price of air fuel, which was reflected in the cost of air travel, through negotiations with hotels. At present, this increase has been compensated via a reduction in the price of accommodation for most of the destinations available," said Mircea Vladu, general manager of Prestige Tours travel agency, who attended the Bucharest Tourism Fair, held from May 9 to May 11 and organised by Interpress Turism and the National Association of Travel Agencies in Romania (ANAT). Vladu added that for popular destinations such as Rhodes, Crete, Corfu, Cyprus, Palma de Mallorca, or Tenerife, prices are higher than last year for some travel packages, where the transport costs could not be compensated through negotiations with the hotel operators. Ano ther travel agency representative, Nicolae Lech, manager of Novatravel, which offers holiday packages both to the Romanian seaside and to foreign destinations such as Albena and Balchik in Bulgaria, believes the 10% price increase for holidays abroad will be felt in the coming period, when travel agencies will no longer be able to assimilate transport fare increases. The number of tourists will not be affected by a prospective increase in prices of foreign travel, Lech says. He even anticipates a rise in their number, as a result of a development of the travel services market.