The National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) and the Federation of the Romanian Hotel Industry (FIHR) are calling on the Government to recognize tourism as a strategic national sector and to allocate a minimum external promotion budget of \u20ac10 million for 2026. The proposal aims for a gradual increase in funding to a threshold of \u20ac20-30 million annually by 2030, within a context marked by a decrease in domestic demand of up to 14% during certain periods of 2025 and chronic underfunding compared to regional competitors.<\/p>\n
Sector representatives emphasize that Romania’s current international promotion budget, situated at approximately \u20ac2 million annually, is over 20 times smaller than Croatia’s and 14 times below Poland’s level, while Turkey and Greece allocate sums over 50 times larger. This budgetary discrepancy has generated a fragmented external presence and reduced visibility, despite competitive advantages such as national safety and diverse heritage. ANAT proposes that at least 10% of the estimated \u20ac300 million in savings from the reduction of holiday vouchers be redirected toward attracting foreign tourists, a segment considered essential for reducing the trade balance deficit through the export of services.<\/p>\n
Alin Burcea, President of ANAT, and Simona Constantinescu, President of FIHR, warn that Romania risks becoming an “island of invisibility” without a strategy based on data and coherent investments. Proposed measures include the operationalization of a national digital platform for reporting tourist movement, the granting of an “Incoming Bonus,” and the strengthening of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). Additionally, the industry recommends using the existing “Rom\u00e2nia Atractiv\u0103” platform to maximize the impact of digital campaigns and ensure transparent fund management through clear performance indicators.<\/p>\n
What is the tourism industry’s budget request for 2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n The industry is requesting a minimum of \u20ac10 million for external promotion in 2026, with plans to increase this to \u20ac20-30 million by 2030.<\/p>\n How does Romania’s tourism budget compare to its neighbors?<\/strong><\/p>\n Romania currently spends about \u20ac2 million annually, which is significantly lower than Croatia (\u20ac40m+), Poland (\u20ac28m+), and Turkey or Greece (\u20ac100m+).<\/p>\n What specific measures are proposed to boost the sector?<\/strong><\/p>\n Key proposals include a national digital reporting platform, an “Incoming Bonus” for agencies, and strengthening Destination Management Organizations (DMOs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) and the Federation of the Romanian Hotel Industry (FIHR) are calling on the Government to recognize tourism as a strategic national sector and to allocate a minimum external promotion budget of \u20ac10 million for 2026. The proposal aims for a gradual increase in funding to a threshold of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":119070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2858],"tags":[3218],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-119097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-alin-burcea-en"],"article_style_override":"on","post-style":"style2","post_via":[{"title":"trendshrb.ro | 09.03","post_source_url":"https:\/\/www.trendshrb.ro"}],"post-top-image":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/turism-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119097"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=119097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}