Romanian tourism websites expect growth

Two of the biggest online tourism sites in Romania, RomanianTourism.ro and infoTourism.ro, are expecting total revenues in excess of 150,000 euros this year.

The increase in the number of Internet users and in the purchasing power bodes well for the development of the market for tourism and transport services sold electronically.

The growth in Romania, however, will not match that in the United States or in the European Union, where the major travel sites are directly connected to the booking systems and everything is done automatically, including direct online credit card payments.

RomanianTourism.ro, the Romanian travel website with most visitors, some 150,000 every month, has become a business with a turnover that will exceed 50,000 euros this year, according to Eugen Iacob, the general manager of the portal.

Although ranking second in terms of visitors, Infoturism.ro estimates revenues of almost 90,000 euros for 2005, that is double the revenues seen in the previous year. The portal hosts offers from more than 300 travel agencies and, according to a statement by its general manager, no less than eight agencies enjoyed revenues of more than 1.5 million euros from reservations through this website alone.

The main source of revenue for this type of online business is the travel agencies” payment of an annual subscription (a service use fee). This subscription stands at 200 euros and does not vary depending on the number of offers introduced, or the number of orders placed by visitors. claudiu.vrinceanu@zf.ro