{"id":123778,"date":"2016-02-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/2016-a-year-of-change-for-romanian-tourism\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:13:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T16:13:35","slug":"2016-a-year-of-change-for-romanian-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/2016-a-year-of-change-for-romanian-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 – A Year of Change for Romanian Tourism?"},"content":{"rendered":"
An old administrative saying goes that business madness occurs when you make no changes to how you lead the business but expect different results. This is pretty much what has been happening with Romanian tourism for 26 years: we wait every year to finally achieve results that matter in global tourism, but we make no changes in our way of acting.<\/div>\n
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We live too much in the nostalgia of the ’70s and ’80s, successful years for Romanian tourism, but years we can no longer reach because the entire context is different. The world has changed, borders have disappeared, air travel has become much cheaper and, obviously, more popular; demographic, social, and cultural changes\u2014all have revolutionized the way we live and, implicitly, the way we do tourism. As for the technological revolution and its impact on tourism, I don’t think we need to elaborate, as it would cover our entire editorial space for several weeks.<\/div>\n
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But what is Romania doing in this context of change? Are we ready to take the bull by the horns at least now, at the eleventh hour, and bring about a major change in how tourism is conducted in Romania? It is hard to answer, but I believe a brief snapshot of the current moment the tourism sector is going through could help form an opinion.<\/div>\n
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The year 2016 started strong for Romanian tourism, despite some permanently negative opinions still heard in the local landscape. January brought the inauguration of the largest spa center in Europe following a direct investment of about 50 million euros; statistical data for 2015 confirmed that Romania had the highest growth in overnight stays in Europe (over 15%); the UNTOLD festival in Cluj was awarded the title of “Major Festival in Europe”; Transylvania was named the destination of the year by Lonely Planet; airlines are launching new routes domestically and abroad; and Hilton announced a 200-room hotel in Bucharest’s Old Town. Even the much-debated trip to Moscow by two Romanian delegations shows a concern (even if poorly harmonized and coherent) for Romanian tourism to take advantage of certain market opportunities, which, in my opinion, represents a novelty.<\/div>\n
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Despite these specific achievements listed above, Romanian tourism still has characteristics that keep us away from the European elite in the field. That is why I say a radical change is needed, a new paradigm to govern this core sector of the global economy, which is still far too insignificant for the national economy.<\/div>\n
So, what are the points where change is urgently needed?<\/div>\n
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1. PRIORITIZING TOURISM as a strategic sector of the national economy. Globally, tourism has become the most important employer after the state, with 9% of jobs being in this industry. In Romania, we stand at around 2.5%. If we gave this sector the proper attention\u2014and here I refer to a commensurate budget, an adequate legislative framework, and a list of public investments (which would attract private investment)\u2014I believe that in the next five years, tourism’s contribution to GDP could double.<\/div>\n
2. PROMOTING ROMANIA – it is clear that Romania’s image in the world is far below expectations, so we must find a new way to promote ourselves. Perhaps a public-private partnership (PPP), of the type practiced in other European countries, could be the solution. Today, without an online presence, you don’t exist, and we still live the paradox of not having a high-performance website for Romanian tourism.<\/div>\n
3. SHIFTING THE CENTER OF GRAVITY when making decisions regarding destination management. While the vast majority of decisions regarding Romanian tourism have been made at the central level, I believe the time has come for them to be largely transferred to the local level, where both local authorities and the regional industry know the situation better and are directly interested in efficient management. The example of Romanian destinations that have (successfully) taken their fate into their own hands is suggestive\u2014Sibiu since 2007, Alba-Iulia, Mamaia, Oradea, or Cluj-Napoca. There are also counter-examples, such as Bucharest or Bra\u0219ov, which, despite immense potential, have yet to find their way in managing regional tourism.<\/div>\n
4. A NEW INDUSTRY APPROACH – there is a need for changes at the industry level as well. Guild-based association initiatives must be encouraged so that the industry’s voice is coherent, strong, and efficient.<\/div>\n
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See the continuation of the article HERE<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Source: Profit<\/a><\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n

What were the key achievements for Romanian tourism in early 2016?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Key milestones included the opening of Europe’s largest spa center (Therme), UNTOLD winning “Major Festival in Europe,” and Transylvania being named a top destination by Lonely Planet.<\/p>\n

What are the main obstacles to Romania’s tourism growth?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main challenges include a lack of strategic prioritization, outdated promotion methods, and a centralized decision-making process that often ignores local needs.<\/p>\n

How can the contribution of tourism to Romania’s GDP be increased?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By treating tourism as a strategic sector with adequate budgets, implementing public-private partnerships for promotion, and empowering local authorities to manage their own destinations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An old administrative saying goes that business madness occurs when you make no changes to how you lead the business but expect different results. This is pretty much what has been happening with Romanian tourism for 26 years: we wait every year to finally achieve results that matter in global tourism, but we make no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":65927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2858],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-123778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism"],"article_style_override":"","post-style":"","post_via":"","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\/123778","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=123778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123778"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=123778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}