The cultural programmes offered in Transylvania and Bucovina were some of the most popular at this year's Berlin travel fair, held between March 5-9, which included over 11,000 exhibitors (international tour operators, hotel owners and international travel associations). Romania's offers were largely centred on tourism in the Danube Delta region.
However, foreign tour operators are still primarily interested in cultural group tours, individual tours, and city breaks over a period of 2-3 days.
"We're interested in Romanian cultural tours, particularly in Transylvania. In the future, we'll consider Romania in our offer, but we haven't sealed any partnerships at present," said Mario Farrugia, general manager at Malta-based M-Trav Tourism Services travel agency.
Intercontact, a German tour operator, also held similar views.
In the opinion of Ulli Ullrich, general manager of Portugal's TravelDesigner, as a tourist destination Romania is very attractive from the point of view of tours offered, but lacks the facilities for group trips.
Romania last year saw 7.7 million tourists, up 27% on the previous year, with the increase being sustained after Sibiu was named European capital of culture. This year, a 10% increase on 2007 is forecast, according to Lucia Morariu, secretary of state for tourism.
Toni Messerschmidt, general manager of Germany's Sofrone Messerschmidt, opinion is less upbeat regarding Romania as a travel destination. He considers prices are too high and conditions are not improving at all, with the number of tourists shrinking each year.
Another form of travel popular in the West is city breaks, which could also develop in Romania as international tour operators become more interested in this business. Areas of natural beauty also attracted the attention of foreign tour operators, although the problem with the Danube Delta region is the lack of programmes and tours currently available.
In the opinion of George Leonida, a senior incoming manager, the tourism will also follow a positive trend this year, but on the medium term we risk exiting the market because of rising hotel prices and the lack of high-quality services.
Cultural programmes in Transylvania, Moldova and Bucharest offered by ONT Carpati travel agency also drew the attention of foreign visitors.
Cornel Ciucu, general manager of Latina travel agency, which mainly promotes coastal holidays, says German tour operators require an all-inclusive system that is practically nonexistent at seaside resorts.
Last year, Romania's travel revenues amounted to 1.068 billion euros, up 34 million euros against 2006, while Romanians spent 1.1 billion euros on holidays abroad, 66 million euros more than in 2006.
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