MECT to Modify the Draft Tourism Law

The Ministry of Economy, Commerce, and Tourism (MECT) will modify the draft Tourism Law, which has been under public debate since June 26, after receiving observations from tourism organizations, with the FPTR even demanding a complete overhaul of the normative act.

"Some employer associations and federations in the tourism sector presented their observations and suggestions within the legally prescribed timeframe, a context in which the necessity of harmonizing the difference in approach regarding the content of the draft law between tourism employer organizations and MECT was agreed upon. In this regard, a series of meetings were organized to analyze the observations and proposals put forward by the private sector, to identify the form in which these proposals can be included in the draft law. The series of meetings will continue in the immediate future, and once the final form of the draft law, agreed upon with representatives of the tourism business environment, is reached, the project will be presented to the Government and submitted to the Romanian Parliament for adoption," MECT stated.

"ANAT requested that there be only one type of travel agency. The Ministry did not accept. Today, a tour operator can sell to both the public and other agencies. The modification accepted by the ministry is that the retailer should only sell to the public. Currently, there are about 85% tour operators and 15% retailers. If the Tourism Law is approved, in two years there will be 10% tour operators and the rest retailers," said Alin Burcea, first vice-president of the National Association of Travel Agencies in Romania, ANAT.

Officials of the Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers, FPTR, state that they do not agree with the draft law in its current version. In fact, the federation requested in July the withdrawal of the draft Tourism Law from the ministry’s website, a project they consider incoherent. Employer representatives appreciate that most of the project’s text was "copy-pasted" from dozens of existing normative acts of different ranks.

The initial draft of the Tourism Law provided, among other things, for up to 3 years in prison and fines of up to 50,000 RON for unauthorized construction in tourist areas.

Also, failure to comply with provisions regarding the daily maintenance and sanitation of the rented beach, failure to set up the beach at the beginning of the summer tourist season, and failure to ensure sewage and water supply works up to the area adjacent to the beach are fined with amounts between 10,000 and 30,000 RON.

Economic operators authorized in the field of tourism have the obligation "to operate with qualified, specialized, perfected, and authorized personnel, in accordance with the specialized regulations and norms in force." Regarding professional training, it is specified that the acquisition of professional skills in the field of tourism is permitted through "practicing specific activities of the tourism sector directly at the workplace or self-training."

The document also stipulates that tourism economic operators who own tourist reception structures in resorts have the obligation to renovate the exteriors of buildings of any type in which they carry out their activities of accommodation, public catering, leisure, tourist transport, or spa treatment, in order to ensure the general appearance of the building.

Currently, the tourism sector in Romania is regulated by a series of normative acts of different ranks, having the same object and being regulated by separate and legally distinct normative acts.