A draft order from the Minister of Transport, which aims to regulate bus transport in Romania, could block access to vacations for tourists with modest incomes. At the same time, if approved, this project will limit the participation of Romanians in pilgrimages and will also hinder the movement of foreign tourists in our country.
According to the project, currently under public debate, buses transferring tourists from the airport to hotels, between resorts, or on domestic circuits and pilgrimages, will no longer be able to board tourists who decided to travel less than 24 hours before the start of the tourist program, according to representatives of the Christian Tour agency.
One article of the project stipulates that „Throughout the journey, in the case of passenger transport through occasional services, the group composition must remain the same”. In other words, if a travel agency wants to transfer tourists from the Moldova region to Bucharest for a charter flight to Greece or Turkey, the bus will be prohibited by law from stopping in the cities it passes through to board tourists.
The project will also affect religious pilgrimage programs conducted in Romania by the
church. Groups of pilgrims from a commune with several churches will be forced to gather in a single place from where the bus will pick them up. According to the project, it will not be allowed to stop at each parish to pick up people.
Furthermore, if an organized group of tourists lands at a Romanian airport and is picked up from there by a transfer bus, the vehicle will no longer be able to stop at each of the hotels where the tourists are staying, but only at a single one, with the tourists having to manage on their own from there.
The project also proposes the mandatory communication to the Romanian Road Authority, ARR, of the trip data at least 24 hours before the start of the journey. Practically, any trivial change, such as a tourist canceling the trip for personal reasons or another tourist’s intention to join a circuit, expressed just a few hours before the trip, will turn the tourist program into an illicit activity.
On October 10, the draft order of the Minister of Transport for the modification and completion of the Methodological Norms regarding the application of provisions related to the organization and performance of road transport and related activities established by GO no. 27/2011 on road transport, approved by the Order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure no. 980/2011, was posted for public debate on the Ministry of Transport’s website. The project was initiated by the ARR and only requires the signature of the Minister of Transport to become a grim reality.
Christian Tour also announces that it will address the Ministry of Transport and Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș in
an attempt to stop „this absurd and extremely harmful endeavor” for tourism in Romania.
Source: Capital Plaza
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main restrictions proposed in the new draft law?
The project mandates reporting trip data 24 hours in advance, prohibits boarding passengers along the route, and limits airport transfer stops to a single hotel.
How will religious tourism and pilgrimages be affected?
Groups of pilgrims will no longer be able to be picked up from different parishes, being forced to gather at a single, pre-established boarding point.
What measures are travel agencies taking against these regulations?
Major tour operators, such as Christian Tour, have notified the Ministry of Transport and the Government to stop the approval of this project, which they consider harmful.