Tourism in Romania [308631]

Introduction

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Romania's UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

NATURAL:

•Danube Delta – 1991

CULTURAL:

•Churches of Moldavia (Arbore, Humor, Moldovita, Patrauti, Probota, Suceava, Voronet, Sucevita) – 1993

•Monastery of Horezu – 1993

•Village with Fortifield Churches in Transylvania (Biertan, Calnic, Darjiu, Prejmer, Saschiz, ValeaViilor, Viscri) – 1993

•Dacian Fortress of the Orastie Mountains (Sarmizegetusa Regia, Costesti-Cetatuie, Costesti-Bidaru, Piatra Rosie, Balnita, Capalna) – 1999

•Historic Centre of Sighisoara – 1999

•Wooden Churches of Maramures (Barsana, BudestiJosani, Desesti, Ieud Deal, Plopis, PoienileIzei, Rogoz, Surdesti) – 1999

How does Romania Chapter INCOMING?

The first four countries that send us tourists are 
Germany ; 2. Italy ; 3. Poland ; 4. Austria – so the number of overnight stays and the number of arrivals of foreign visitors.

Currently, 20-25 Romanian travel agencies bring foreign tourists to a higher level and consistently. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), we have 1.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, of which 80% are the events and business travel (1,360,000 people) and 20% on the leisure (340,000 people). The vast majority of foreign tourists arriving in Romania do not come through travel agencies.

Estimated actual number of foreign tourists (including the business and event) is brought to Romania by 400,000 travel agencies, namely 1.3 million come on their own / other travel arrangements.

According to the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) and the National Institute of Statistics (INS), last year 1.7 million foreign tourists visited Romania. They spent 3.5 million nights in our country, 4 times less than in Bulgaria (14.3 million overnight stays), 3.5 times less than in Hungary (12.3 million overnight stays), the 6 times less than in the Czech Republic (20.8 million overnight stays) and 22 times less than in Austria (78.1 million overnight stays). "

Foreign visitors spent in Romania 4.79 billion RON (1.08 billion euros or 635.29 euros per person), the largest share is held by the amounts allocated for accommodation. Foreign tourists account for only 18% of Romania's tourism market, compared to 67% in Bulgaria, 49% in Hungary, 53% in the Czech Republic and 71% in Austria. And the annual occupancy of accommodation in Romania does not exceed 30%. Currently, the reduced rate of 9% applies only to accommodation and accommodation with breakfast included . The rest of tourist services, including travel agencies selling products in Romania are taxed at the full rate of 24%.

As contribution to GDP, tourism had last year a total contribution of 5.1% of GDP, which places Romania ranked 154 in the world, in 184 countries, from Albania (16.7% of GDP) Bulgaria (13.3%), Hungary (10.6%), Czech Republic (8.4%) and Slovakia (6%), according to a report of the World Tourism Council and (WTTC). The total contribution of tourism to GDP include business directly generated by this activity, such as accommodation, transport, attractions, entertainment, shopping and food expenses and investments in tourism and hospitality, plus income generated indirectly, earnings suppliers serving projects or tourism facilities and expenses incurred by employees in the sector in the economy.

Earlier statistics show that in recent years, the number of foreign tourists in Romania grew rapidly from 1.71 million in 2013, 1.91 million in 2014, 2.23 million in 2015 and 2.47 million in 2016.

What are incoming spacing agencies?
in Romania, of the more than 2,000 travel agencies registered, only 20 were activated by incoming mainly in business structure, unfortunately, too few to attract a significantly higher number of foreign tourists.

1st 
Karpaten Tourism – 172,000 foreign tourists in 2013
150,000 tourists on cruises and 22,000 tourists circuits 
(cruises on the Danube circuits Romania, Bucharest city breaks, beach holidays Romania). 
http://www.karpaten.ro/ro/ 

Rank 2 
Danubius Travel (TUI Group & EUROLINES) 65,000 foreign tourists / year 2013 ; wants 100,000 foreign tourists in 2014. 
http://danubius.ro/contact/ 

3rd place 
Meshek Wings Tours Ltd 12,000 foreign tourists / 2014 and 15,000 / 2015 
only company in Romania that brings two charter planes a week in Israel. 

4th 
Visit Romania – 2013 5,500 foreign tourists 
http://www.visit-romania.ro/ 

Rank 5 
Nova Travel – 4,000 foreign tourists in 2013 
http://www.novatravel.ro/ 

Rank 6 
Gallery vacations – 4,000 tourists from Belarus in 2013 http://www.galeriadevacante.ro/

Rank 7
EXIMTUR – 2,000 tourists in 2014 
In 2014, the company has developed and EximturEximtur Incoming division specializes in providing services and programs for foreign tourists. More than 2,000 tourists from Austria, Slovenia and the UK visited Romania last year by the incoming division, which will expand its operations in 2015 and on the German market. 
http://www.forbes.ro/eximtur-cifra-de-afaceri-de-40-de-milioane-de-euro-2014-31551/2

Rank 8 
Mr.Tripp travel agency specializing in incoming tourism information with an active in Revolution Square we had last year over 2,000 tourists and tours in one days or 2 zile. Contact Constantin Rodica – turism- guide Rodica @ mr.tripp.ro; Stere Marinela – Guide turism- mary@mrtripp.ro Bucharest 
http://www.traveltobucharest.com/ 

Rank 9 
Travel Maker – 1,500 foreign tourists in 2013 and 2,500 in 2014 (not brought directly) 
http: //www.travelmaker.com / www.bucharestcitytour.com and http://iloveromania.ro/

Rank 10 
Splendid Holiday – 1,000 foreign tourists in 2014 in Israel, half of them go skiing in Poiana Brasov.

2016- A GREAT YEAR FOR ROMANIAN TOURISM

The year that has just finished was a great one for Romanian tourism, people from all over the world traveled to Romania to discover the unique attractions that make our country a unique destination!

The number of foreign tourists visiting Romania increased by 20% in 2016 compared to 2015, it’s an impressive rise continuing the positive trend of recent years. The number of travelers went up to 2.4 million in 2016 and we are certain that the attention our country is beginning to get from the media and the international travel community is a great help in attracting more and more tourists to Romania.

Here are some of the news that made 2016 a great year for Romanian tourism:

Transylvania-top region of the world by Lonely Planet

At the beginning of 2016, Lonely Planet launched their famous travel guide of best countries, cities and regions to visit and ranked Transylvania top region of the world for that year! Travelers worldwide turned their attention to this region of Romania with a rich cultural history and beauty unaltered by time. Once arrived here, the medieval charm of cities in Transylvania is present all around and well linked into modern times, while the villages maintain the same simple lifestyle as ages ago. Transylvania is a top destination not just for 2016!

2.Traditional wall-carpet craftsmanship included in UNESCO Cultural Heritage

UNESCO announced on December 1, 2016 when Romania is celebrating its National Day that the “traditional wall-carpet craftsmanship in Romania and the Republic of Moldova” is included on its representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. This ancestral tradition is considered an “expression of creativity, identity and tool for social cohesion”. “Traditionally, wall carpets produced by weaver communities were used for decoration, funerals, exhibitions, and as part of a bride’s dowry. These days, they are mainly appreciated as works of art,” according to unesco.org.

Survey

1.What are your main interests in selecting a destination?

-Adventure;

-Night life;

-Nature;

-Culture;

-Rest;

2.What are the most challenging problems that you face when choosing a destination?

-Language difficulties;

– Price;

-Reliability;

-Quality of service;

3. How attractive do you find the old architecture/ historical places of a country?

(Not at all, a bit, very, perfect …)

4.Have you ever been to Romania ?

– Yes;

What did you like the most?

– Coastal region;

– Mountainous region;

– No;

5.Have you ever heard about at least one of UNESCO patrimonies from Romania ?

– Yes;

-No;

6.Which Unesco patrimony from Romania did you visit?

– Danube Delta;

– Churches of Moldavia;

– Monastery of Horezu;

– Village with Fortifield Churches in Transylvania;

– Historic Centre of Sighisoara;

– Wooden Churches of Maramures;

– None ;

7.Where did you find out about the UNESCO World Heritage in Romania?

-Mass-media;

-Travel agencies;

-Internet;

-Friends, family, acquaintances;

-Other sources;

– I did not hear;

8. Do you see churches as an important heritage of a country?

– Yes;

– No;

9. Would you spend your vacation away from the big city like, in rural area of Romania?

( No. Maybe, Yes )

10. How would you find an experience in Danube Delta ,an area of sheer wild beauty surrounded by an abundance of nature?

(Unpleasant, Not sure, Interesting, Wonderful)

11. Considering your previous experience (if any) or the impressions you made on Romania, would you come here with your family/ friends?

………

12. Which of the following would you like to visit in Romania ?

– Danube Delta;

– Churches of Moldavia;

– Monastery of Horezu;

– Village with Fortifield Churches in Transylvania;

– Historic Centre of Sighisoara;

– Wooden Churches of Maramures;

13. Have you ever attended a cultural event in Romania?

– Yes;

– No;

14.How do you think the prices in Romania are, in comparison with the services provided?

-Grade;

-Average;

-Small;

15.Which of the following attributes fits better for describing Romania?

-Friendly;

-Traditional;

-Industrial;

-Crowded;

-Uninteresting;

-Natural;

Interpretation of our survey regarding Tourism in Romania

The main purpose of our survey was to emphasize how foreigners feel about tourism in Romania and especially the one based on UNESCO heritage sites. After organizing this survey which was completed by 85 people, mostly aged between 18 and 30, the following characteristics could be observed:

The majority of people who took part in this survey (more than 50%) come from Europe, mostly United Kingdom (13%), followed by Bulgaria and France. The rest origin from Middle East (approx. 30%), America (approx. 10%) and from Asia (approx. 10%).

People surveyed find their main interest in the cultural factor when selecting a destination (36.5%), while only 3.5% think that resting is the most important element when travelling.

More than 41% of people chose that the quality of service represents the most challenging problem in choosing a destination, whereas the rest opted for price and language difficulties.

34 people out of 85 ranked with the maximum 5 the attractiveness of the old architecture and historical places of a country.

More than 60% of people surveyed stated that they have been to Romania and are likely to return with family and friends.

The UNESCO patrimonies from Romania seem to be very popular among foreigners since 60% of them have already heard about those attractions.

The most visited patrimony from our country were the churches of Moldavia (17.6%), followed by the Danube Delta (10.6%) and the Historic Centre of Sighisoara (8.2%). The less visited ones are the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains and the Wooden Churches of Maramures (5.9%).

Most of the foreigners admitted that they found out about UNESCO World Heritage in Romania from friends, family or acquaintance (44.7%), while 18.8% said that Internet guided them through this direction. It is surprisingly to see that only 1.2% were enlightened about UNESCO in Romania through travel agencies.

More than a half of people who completed our survey find churches as an important heritage of a country.

The results show that the majority of the foreigners would find the Danube Delta as an interesting and wonderful experience.

Questioning them about which of the UNESCO attractions in our country they would like to visit in the near future, the results show that 21.2% would choose the Danube Delta and the Churches of Moldavia, 16.5% opted for the Historic Centre of Sighisoara, whereas 35 people out of 85 would go for the other patrimonies.

74.1% of foreigners think that the prices in Romania are average in comparison with the services provides. Only 25.9% find them small and none grade.

All the results being taken into account, we discovered that the majority comes from United Kingdom, is aged between 18 and 28 years old, interested in culture and old architecture, pays attention at quality of services when choosing a destination, went to Romania at least one time and visited at least one of UNESCO patrimonies from our country. Moreover, they stated that Romania is a friendly, traditional and natural country and are likely to return and also spread the word about this experience.

CONCLUSIONS:

To sum up, Romania is one of the not so well-known touristic destinations, but in spite this fact, it has many attractions, both natural and historical, that never fail to impress those who choose Romania as a vacation destination.