Seaside hotel managers would not listen to travel agencies

“The poor management in certain hotels, particularly in Neptun, has led to low take-ups. Some hotel operators simply wanted to get rich quick, to make as much money in one month as others would make in a year, and they are bound to lose.”

This is, as Nicu Radulescu, state secretary within the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism (MTCT) feels, one of the reasons why the number of tourists in the seaside resorts sagged in full season. Radulescu did not say who those hotel operators were, though. #leadend#

The travel agencies’ representatives feel the same way as the state secretary does.

“One reason for the drop in the number of tourists in July is the stubbornness of some hotel operators in the seaside resorts that would just not listen to the advice of the travel agencies about rising prices. Many simply don’t get it; more than 80% of the accommodations at the seaside are sold through agencies, which get a firsthand feedback from clients. It was them that felt the market would not accept a 20% rise and took it up with the hotel representatives at the tourism exchange this spring, but they just wouldn’t listen,” Toma Slanoiu, Magest Travel agency manager told Ziarul Financiar.

“We’re not pulling prices down to put them out of business, we just want to sell, have more tourists coming so that both the agency and the hotel could gain,” Magest official said. Who are the “culprits”, then? “Some hotel owners who either have not hired people who know one thing or two about tourism yet or believe that if they own a hotel they can run one, but have no idea about the simplest hotel marketing strategies, for instance,” said Cornel Gaina, chairman of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT).

He added it was mostly about the managers of the hotels bought last year and currently closed.

On the other hand, Ioan Micula, chairman of the Europeans Drinks Group that bought 12 hotels and three villas auctioned by the Tourism Ministry last year, feels there should be a more active governmental involvement. He added his group had invested in a travel agency (Turist Center) to handle promotion for its tourism business and others’ depending on the opportunities.