Tourists going solo in 2003

The travel agencies in Romania will see their business grow by about ten percent, the same as in 2002, according to estimates. However, demand for individual tourism services could increase at the expense of the group tourism. The estimates show the turnover of travel agencies amounted to $360 million last year, according to officials of the National Travel Agencies Association (ANAT). The Romanian tour operators could therefore make some $400 million in revenues this year. “2003 will be a good year for Romanian tourism, even though several events might occur worldwide and make a significant impact on the industry,” Marcel Badescu, ANAT honorary chairman told Ziarul Financiar. Therefore, a possible war against Iraq might drastically diminish the international demand for tourism services, just as September 11 did. Badescu feels that turnover registered by the travel agencies last year increased by more than 10%. The main factor to have influenced the business of the travel agencies in 2002 was the visa lifting for travelling inside the Schengen space, the ANAT official estimates. “The tourists turned to prepaid services because of the conditions to enter the Schengen space (the requirement to produce either a voucher or 500 euros at the customs office),” Badescu says. Daniel Antonescu, Marshal Turism agency chairman estimates the Romanian tourism business to grow by 10%. He says that, since there will be no other event as significant as the lifting of visas, the 2003 increase will be lower than last year’s. ZF