Season revival in August

Fewer tourists, slower season, rebound, low quality, high prices, change in the season peak are just some of the words used to define this year’s summer season at the seaside. Various analysts providing contradictory opinions on the service quality, number of tourists, tariffs and trying to explain the season was not that bad after all and there were chances of a rebound. Towards the end of the season, following a very slow July, most of the hotels started making money again. Things are different from resort to resort, though. “This was a good year. June was good for business and August was beyond expectations. Unlike the previous years, the season peak was no longer in July indeed, when we had fewer tourists, but in August, ” says Dragos Raducanu, executive manager of the Romanian Tourism Employers’ Federation (FPTR). The representatives of the hotel companies in the various resorts largely agree with the statements of the FPTR official but would like to point out some things. “All in all, revenues were about 10% higher than in 2002, even though the average occupancy rate was slightly lower by about 4%. The revenues increased a bit against a moderate raise in tariffs,” said Ioan Pascanu, head of the Portfolio Management Department with SIF Transilvania. SIF Transilvania controls five tourism companies on the Romanian Black Sea Coast: Eforie SA, Carmen Silva SA, Miorita Estival, Saturn SA and Venus SA. ZF