More tourists expected at the seaside

The National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) estimates the number of tourists to spend their holidays at the seaside this year will be 15%-20% higher than in 2003. The estimates are based on a survey that compared travel agency reservations up until June 15 with the data available for the same time last year. Lucia Morariu, ANAT chairman, explained the increase in the number of tourists as largely being due to various social programmes, such as those offering pre-season seaside holiday packages at lower prices. She suggested two further reasons, such as the investments made by hotel owners and the price of seaside holidays booked through travel agencies, which have not gone up compared with 2003. ZF