Iraq war threatens Romanian hotel business

The onset of the war in Iraq will impact on the business of the Romanian hotel operators, companies in this industry say, with the effects tied to its duration. Still, no one ventures to forecast the losses the tourism industry would incur in case the Americans attack Iraq.
“Any conflict area impacts on travelling in general, and holidays are out of the question. Practically, the business of the hotels will be affected in two ways. On the one hand, the number of trips will go down, as people will avoid travelling, especially by plane, and on the other, there is less interest for economic conferences, seminars or other events,” Mioara Gheorghe, Crowne Plaza marketing and sales manager says.
“Tourism is the most accurate barometer for any imbalance that may occur in a specific region. We have countless examples in this regard, such as the foot-and-mouth-disease, the mad cow disease or September 11,” Mihai Rajnita, general secretary of the Romanian Hotel Industry Federation (FIHR) says.  He feels the United States will be the main market lost. “The American clients will refrain from crossing the ocean,” Rajnita thinks.
Bert Fol, Athenee Palace Hilton general manager, estimates the revenues of the hotel to increase only if nothing happens in the Middle East, but feels no one can tell exactly how bad the war would be for the hotel industry. He says the uncertainty about the Gulf situation is already affecting international tourism.
Mihai Rajnita in his turn feels the uncertainty is showing. “For instance, the hotels in Israel and Jordan, two countries neighbouring Iraq have come to no more than 20% occupancy rate, compared with a little above 50% before the beginning of the conflict,” the FIHR representative says.
Turkey will also see its tourism industry seriously affected, due to its close proximity to the war zone.