High prices chase tourists away from the seaside

The occupancy rate of seaside hotels amounted to 41-42% in the first days of July, much lower than last year, Transports, Constructions and Tourism minister Miron Mitrea said on Wednesday.

The minister thus verified what operators had been saying so far – this summer season has been less profitable than in the previous years, although it started off quite well, considering the 39% average occupancy rate in June, slightly higher than in 2002.

At the beginning of the year, both Tourism minister Dan Matei Agathon and the hotel owners were more than optimistic. The minister forecast a double number of contracts with foreign operators, while hotel owners thought they would cash more this year, despite the war in Iraq.

“The 2003 summer season will be more profitable than last year’s, if the war ends up quickly. The hotels were privatised and competition became fiercer,” businessman George Copos, owner of Ana Group, was saying. Ana Group holds, among others, the Astoria and Europa hotels in Eforie Nord.

However, their estimates failed to materialise. “High prices and poor services are to blame”, tourism specialists say. Whereas the number of foreign tourists had been going up, although fewer Romanian tourists were opting for the seaside in the past years, hotel owners are now dealing with the absence of foreign tourists, as well.

“The tariffs on the Romanian seaside are comparable with those in Spain, Greece or Italy and even higher if compared with the countries we are directly competing with- Bulgaria and Turkey,” Mitrea pointed out. bogdan.neagu@zf.ro