Romanians now booking holidays six months in advance
Autor:
Mirabela Tiron
15.03.2011
Most Romanian tourists now book a holiday three to six months in advance in order to get the early bird discounts, and buy up to three holidays a year. Five years ago, Romanians would book their holiday a short while ahead of the departure date and opted for one holiday a year in the peak summer season.
The changes in Romanians' consumption behaviour led to a
doubling of the turnovers of the main local travel agencies in the
past five years. "I booked a one-week summer holiday in Santorini
in early March. I paid 390 euros, 20% less than I would have paid
had I bought this holiday after the end of the early booking
programme, i.e. after the end of March," said Viorica Gavrilov from
Tulcea.
On the other hand, representatives of travel agencies say
planning the holiday three to six months in advance was not a habit
for Romanian holiday consumers five years ago.
"But now we are on
the right track, Romanians are looking out for early booking
opportunities more than before," said Antonio Niţu, general manager
of travel agency Aerotravel Lufthansa City Center. Travel agencies
sell holiday packages for the summer season at an up to 30%
discount, if booked until the end of April at the latest.