For Black Sea tourism to become national priority, foreign tourists nine months a year needed

For Black Sea tourism to become a national priority, the tourism sector must attract tourists, especially foreigners, to the Black Sea for nine months a year, Chairman of the Alliance for Tourism (APT) Dragos Anastasiu told a conference called "Romanian Tourism - Between Impasse and Opportunity," according to a press statement released on Monday by the National Confederation for Female Entrepreneurship (CONAF), the organiser of the debate in Constanta, agerpres reports.

"As long as the summer season is 2-3 months, we cannot expect tourism on the Black Sea to become a national priority. We have to do our best to attract tourists, Romanians but especially foreigners, seniors, for at least nine months. Extending seasonal tourism to nine months of activity per year could help Romanian tourism to develop sustainably and organically," Anastasiu is quoted as saying in the CONAF statement.

In his turn, Constanta Mayor Vergil Chitac voiced hope that the share of tourism in the GDP will increase in Romania, as in other EU member states, from 5% to 10%.

"I am a supporter of the action and I want the center of Constanta to become a tourist area of national interest. In Constanta, we are in the process of finalising the statutes for the law establishing DMOs [Destination Marketing Organisations]; it is 99% ready. Because we can only promote Mamaia and Constanta as tourist destinations via DMOs. That is a place that must become the most important tourist destination. Here we have the oldest history in our country," according to Chitac.

In his turn, Chair of the National Confederation for Female Entrepreneurship Cristina Chiriac proposed awarding bonuses by the authorities for tour operators working in the off-season.

"I believe that we need to work in this direction, together with the central and local administrations, so as to create the right legal framework, or a bonus for those who do not interrupt their activity after the classic summer vacation. We are living a new beginning after the pandemic, which puts us on an equal footing with other neighbouring states," according to the CONAF president.

Chiriac also said that the CONAF initiative "Romanian Tourism: Between impasse and opportunity" is not just a project, but a tool for restarting Romanian tourism and including in with a sustainable development strategy, as a development axis with huge potential for national level.

However, in order to achieve that, public and private investment in infrastructure, digitalisation and modernisation of the sector are needed, fiscal stimulus measures must be considered and, last but not least, the correlation of the labour market with the real needs in the sector, concluded the CONAF president.

The series of events "Romanian Tourism: Between Impasse and Opportunity" will continue on September 2 in Brasov, on October 15 in Suceava, and on November 4 in Cluj and Bucharest.