The Black Sea coast has recorded, this year, decreases of about 40%, in the context where two beds and an umbrella are 4 times more expensive than in Cyprus, it was discussed at a round table about Romanian tourism organized at the largest tourism fair in the country. Solutions were also proposed to get tourism out of the deadlock.
The round table at “The biggest tourism fair in Romania”. PHOTO: Remus Florescu
The biggest tourism fair in Romania, which is being held these days, at the Wonderland complex, in Cluj, started on Thursday with the round table – “Romanian Tourism, where?”. The owner of the Eximtur travel agency – Lucia Morariu, the president of the National Association of Tourism Agencies (ANAT) – Alin Burcea, the entrepreneur Dragoș Anastasiu, the president of the South East Regional Council of ANAT and former state secretary in the Ministry of Tourism – Cristian Bărhălescu, the entrepreneur Darius Mârza participated in the discussion.
One of the most heated discussions took place around tourism on the Black Sea coast and the perception of Romanian hoteliers.
Coastal tourism, in free fall
“I have just seen that it is not constitutional to give pieces of beach to local authorities, so the Ministry of the Environment must take the matter in hand and deal with these beaches, because in Cyprus, two beds and an umbrella cost 7 euros, the beaches are managed by the public authorities. 7 euros is 35 lei, please make a comparison with how much two beds and an umbrella cost on average here on the coast”said Lucia Morariu, the owner of Eximtur.
She pointed out that these differences are also visible in the results: Cyprus, this year, has an increase of over 30%. “With us, at sales, at the level of travel agencies, the Romanian coast, if no one has told you so far, predicts a 40% drop in the 2025 seasonif we take the whole season along the entire coast. Someone has to tell the truth. That certain hotels are on the rise, where investments have been made and the quality-price ratio was correct, is true. But from 35 lei for two beds and an umbrella to 150 lei, it seems to me that from this point of view we do not respect the Romanians. And it is the state that is obliged to ensure every Romanian the right to sit on the beach, on a bed, under an umbrella, at a decent price.”
The President of ANAT, Alin Burcea, criticized the statement of the Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forests, Diana Buzoianu, who claimed that the managers of the beaches on the coast can pay their rent for one month of the beach from the receipts of one day.
“Prices on the coast, when renting beaches, are very high. Nothing the minister stated has anything to do with reality.” Burcea claimed. Asked how many days it would take to pay this rent, Burcea claimed that “it’s hard to estimate. In any case, in Bulgaria, for example, the rent is lower.”
Darius Mârza, the owner of the Wonderland tourist complex in Cluj, claimed that “if it’s a seasonal thing, dependent on the weather and for a short period, you can’t produce to pay your taxes, salaries and everything you have, maintenance, it’s so hard, no one can imagine.” He recommended that hoteliers on the coast open their units in the mountains as well, in order to be able to keep their best employees.
Tax evasion “hard”
The President of ANAT touched on the delicate point of tax evasion in tourism. “Those who are part of the government, someone told me, that it is believed about those in tourism that we are escapists, that we take money from the state and that Horeca was alms. The government thinks that they are thieves, escapists, and with this mentality in a government, tourism in Romania or any other country will never grow.” The former presidential adviser Dragoș Anastasiu confirmed the ANAT president: “You’re right. That’s the perception in government. And it’s in our hands to change it. It’s in nobody’s hands.”
The former presidential adviser, who also has business in the tourism field, Dragoș Anastasiu, added: “The fact that in Romanian tourism, I invite you to the Delta, is serious tax evasion, I think none of us can combat it”.
“I fight this thing“, the president of ANAT intervened. “Because big hotels have no way of tax evasion and a hotel of 1,000 employees is never a hotel of two people.”
Anastasiu argued that we should never generalize: “Not all, but to a large extent, in the area of restaurants, and in the area of hotels, and not only in Romania, tax evasion is practiced hard. The fact that this tax evasion is practiced is seen, known and so on.”
The former presidential adviser gave an example: “Romanian waters did a study on all the bars on the beach, see how many have authorization for 50 meters and built 200 square meters.”
Anastasiu’s solutions for Romanian tourism. “The hotel industry is very profitable”
Anastasiu noted that compared to 10 years ago, the Romanian coast “it is much better, but compared to Greece we are much worse off. But what I mean is that we should change the perspective a little bit with what we can do, what is in our industrial strength. And you can do it.”
There are two issues, he said:
“The first is to have a united and strong voice that knows how to do what is called lobbying. Because being on the other side for a while, I saw that this is not done well. So a bunch of entities come saying various things, even contradictory, but in the same sense, and the decision-maker sits, looks and doesn’t really know who to believe. So we don’t have a united and strong voice that puts evidence on the table. We were talking with Mrs. Minister Buzoianu about the beaches and I was trying to explain to her the topics on the beach in Romania and she said, “Sir, I also want to see a study done by the industry, from Năvodari to Mangalia, because the problems are different in each area, they are not the same.”
“To see every tourist as the dearest being on earth, not as a sponge”
The second element concerns the behavior of the industry towards the tourist and the investment area to create experiences.
“We’ve been complaining for 30 years that we have a two-month season, but we’re not able to do indoor swimming pools, we’re not able to do studs, we’re not able to do sports fields to do training camps, we’re not able to do conference rooms, etc. If you look at the numbers, the hotel industry is super profitable.”
The President of ANAT stated that at the national level, the occupancy rate of hotels is 34%. “I don’t know what is so profitable“, he replied.
“Well look at the numbers. And I’m talking about the official numbers, not the untaxed ones. Be careful! Because that’s another thing we can doAnastasiu said.
The entrepreneur also explained that the mindset of the staff needs to be worked on. “Sto look at every tourist as the dearest being on earth, not as a sponge. At the moment, I also talk to my colleagues in the hotel industry, to my staff, and I tell them, “you have two options to look at your customers: 1. like a sponge to take our tip and possibly a bonus, or 2. – like my mother, whom we haven’t seen for five years. And when she comes, that’s how we see her, that’s how we look at her, that’s how we hug her and so on. And that’s in our hands. It’s not in the hands of the Romanian state.”
