Tourist number doubles this year in hotels and bed&breakfasts in Romania, for Easter, Labor Day

The pandemic situation determined Romanians to spend their Easter holidays and Labor Day in the country, where the number of tourists expected in hotels and bed & breakfasts will clock in at around 300,000, double over a normal year, said, on Thursday, for AGERPRES, Traian Badulescu, communications specialist with the National Association for Travel Agencies (ANAT). According to him, Romanians are traveling all over the country, especially in rural bed & breakfasts, in mountain resorts and in balneal resorts, such as in the Danube Delta. The littoral region was less sought out, as the two holidays coincided this year, and Romanians prefer Easter celebrations. Furthermore, the parties that are typical of the littoral area are not yet allowed. "Bed & breakfasts and hotels at home have a high occupancy rate. If, in a normal year, we had around 100,000 - 150,000 Romanian tourists in the country, I estimate that this year the number will be double, so we will reach 200,000 - 300,000 tourists in accommodation units, but it's hard to estimate, because many are going on their own," mentioned Badulescu. Furthermore, the main foreign destination this year is Egypt. "Thousands of Romanian tourists will go to Egypt for Easter, as never before. There are nearly 10 charter flights a day, from morning to evening, from several cities. The prices are very good for all-inclusive [packages], the situation is stable there and they only require a PCR test. A couple pays, on average, with flight included, between 700 and 1,000 euro per week," showed the ANAT representative. Other foreign destinations that are not on the yellow list are Zanzibar, Madeira, Tenerife and Morocco. A big issue in this period was the inclusion of Greece and Bulgaria on the yellow list, and thousands of Romanians had to cancel their reservations. "Unfortunately, the Romanian side did not sign any protocol with Greece and we do not understand why. Only those vaccinated can still travel without quarantine and those who had COVID in the past 90 days, the rest of those who return from these countries must stay in quarantine. If we signed the protocols there would be no need for quarantine. And we do not understand, if upon return to the country a COVID PCR test may be required, maybe even an antigen one, why is quarantine still necessary, if those persons prove that they do not have COVID," Badulescu also said. The green certificate will solve at the European level these issues come summer, he said.AGERPRES(RO - author: Florentina Cernat, editor: Nicoleta Gherasi; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)