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New Year's Eve: last-minute solutions are not cheap

28.12.2001, 00:00 10



People can still find reservations for New Year's Eve, but those who are making such a decision these days have to prepare big sums of money or lower their expectations. Unless they want to spend another New Year's Eve at home.

Last minute tourism is not yet a well-developed branch in Romania. A poll conducted by phone at travel agencies having offices in Bucharest showed that most of them are already unable to provide a New Year's Eve stay, except for several internal offers announced a few months ago. Naturally, cheap tickets for popular destinations have already been bought.

Those who prefer spending New Year's Eve abroad should have already obtained the necessary visas. "If agencies having organised trips for larger groups were declined visas for some of their customers, their tickets can be offered to other applicants," said Marcel Badescu, an official with the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT).

Another solution for tourists who want to spend New Year's Eve abroad is to travel on their own, and spend the holidays in hotels where travel agencies can still make reservations or that can be found on the Internet.

In that case, getting a plane ticket becomes the biggest problem, as long as, according to Romanian operators, reservations for flights departing from Romania during holidays have been made at least two weeks ago.

Undoubtedly, those who leave today by car or by train have enough time to arrive to Paris or to Antalya by December 31.



New Year's Eve abroad

In Turkey, tariffs announced by travel agents at tourism fairs a few months ago vary between 380 and 610 dollars for six days spent in three and four star hotels. Greece attracts tourists by tariffs standing at 230 up to 570 dollars, such offers including accommodation in a four star hotel for six days.

Another offer amounts to 230 dollars for December 29, 2000-January 3, 2001, including five nights spent in a three star hotel, half-boarding and New Year's Eve feast.

In Morocco, spending New Year's Eve in a four star hotel costs 283 dollars and 235 dollars for three star accommodation for five nights, with half-boarding and feast.

Hungary and the Czech Republic are two destinations with appealing prices, as four nights in a two-star hotel in Balaton cost 150 dollars, while the price of a stay in Prague ranges between 98 and 139 dollars. A two-way ticket to Budapest costs between 30 and 60 dollars.



No bargains in Romania, either

For those who want to spend New Year's Eve in the country, packages at hotels in the mountain area or on the seacoast are still available.

Even more convenient, one can opt for boarding and lodging in the rural tourism network, according to Marilena Stoian, chairman of the National Association for Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism (ANTREC).

The price for a five-day stay in the rural tourism system ranges between 150-200 dollars per person and includes the daily boards or the New Year's Eve feast.

In Predeal, the tariff per person for five days in a three-star hotel, with complete boarding, including the New Year's Eve feast, reaches 17 million lei, that is the price of a washing machine and a TV set.

In the same resort, the price of a reservation in a double room at a two-star hotel, over the period December 29, 2000 - January 2, 2001 amounts to 7.7 million lei (almost 300 dollars), while at a three-star hotel the tariff comes to 329 dollars per person, calculated for three-night accommodation, complete boarding and New Year's Eve feast.

Those who believe that it is more romantic to celebrate the New Year at the seaside have to pay for their beliefs: a stay in a two-star hotel costs around 1.5 million lei per person. For a three-star hotel, the price per stay amounts to almost 2.5 million lei.

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