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Although their picturesque landscapes and authentic lifestyle usually turn the rural, tradition-loving regions of Maramures and Bucovina into Easter holiday tourist honeypots, the Ukraine war has this year cut short the Romanians' vacationing plans.
After two years of Covid-19 restrictions, this year again the Romanians are prevented from fully enjoying the most important Christian holiday due to the Ukraine war looming close to their beloved leisure regions, so that Easter holiday reservations here are low compared to previous seasons.
The high prices for electricity, gas, wood and fuel have inevitably rendered holidays more expensive and people are trying to skimp on resources.
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Maria Stoian, the founding president of Romania's National Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism Association (ANTREC), says that Easter holiday bookings for Maramures agritourism facilities are somewhere around 50 percent compared to 2021, while in Bucovina they are at around 60-70 percent, as potential visitors keep a rather cautious approach.
"Demand for the Easter holiday traditional areas of Bucovina and Maramures is much lower this year due to the proximity to the Ukraine war. So far, in Maramures we estimate bookings are somewhere half the level of last year, but we hope they will rise a bit if weather improves. Then again, I haven't heard about guesthouses slashing rates to attract tourists, especially since they have very high energy and gas bills on their hands. Everything is much more expensive now. In March, many guesthouse owners didn't receive tourists because of the high gas bills, whilst on the other hand they couldn't increase their fees too much. In Bucovina - an area awash with monasteries - the booking rate is a bit higher, around 60-70 percent at the moment. Not all inquiry phone calls end with a booking, but there haven't been as many as before for these traditional areas anyway," Maria Stoian told AGERPRES.
She says that vacationers who choose to spend Easter in Bucovina also want to experience and even get hands-on with egg decorating and preparing the Easter basket that is taken to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday, while in Maramures they participate in the preparation of traditional dishes and egg-dying with vegetal colors.
"Tourists in Bucovina prefer egg-decorating. Right this weekend we had the National Decorated Eggs Festival in Ciocanesti - Suceava County, an event mostly for locals, but which also attempts to attract youth, the more so as there is also a museum of decorated eggs here. These are activities tourists can also enjoy during Easter holidays. In Bucovina the Easter basket is a staple tradition. Like the fir tree decoration on Christmas, there's the Easter basket in Maramures, but tourists also enjoy watching how the bread or the dough cake is made in a wood-fired oven, or participate in painting eggs with vegetable colors," said the ANTREC president.
As far as agritourism guesthouse rates for the Easter period are concerned, Maria Stoian says that the offer for Bucovina is richer than that for Maramures, fitting all budgets, Agerpres.ro informs.
Thus, a four-night breakfast and dinner package in a boarding house in Vatra Moldovita - Bucovina between April 22 - 26, 2022 costs 1,800 RON per person. The package includes a festive Easter meal with blessed food, participation in the Resurrection Service at the Frumosu Church or the Moldovita Monastery, campfire and access to spa and billiards. Children up to 6 years get free stay, and those aged 6 to 14 are charged 40 percent of an adult's price.
For Easter vacationers in Maramures, a 3-night stay between April 22 and 25, 2022 at a guesthouse in Danesti costs 1,350 RON/person with breakfast and dinner, including Easter festive lunch. All children under 6 stay free of charge, those aged 6 to 14 years get a 50 percent cut and there is also an extra bed.
The dishes offered are local-specific, made in house. Tourists can also roll up their sleeves and help prepare the festive meal of the "Resurrection of the Lord" together with the host, baking Easter bread and stuffed rolls directly on the wood-fired hearth in the yard of the house. A ride in the horse-pulled carriage to the UNESCO monumental church in Surdesti is offered on the house.
Another highlight of the stay are the folk craftsmen who make traditional costumes and shirts, or those who sculpt miniature wooden objects directly in bottles to be filled with palinka.
Tourists are also invited to attend the Easter service at the nearby church, where the baskets with specific dishes are being blessed. On the second Easter day, Surdesti villagers celebrate "Udatoriul", an ancient nature-revival agricultural custom that also sees the first farmer who got out in the field to plough in the new farming season being honored. All the villagers dress up in folk costumes and gather after church service for the counsel of the sages. Tourists can also enjoy an artistic outdoor program of folk music.
The owners of a guesthouse in the north-eastern region of Neamt - which is rich in famous monasteries - have a 3-night all-inclusive package for either April 22/23 or April 25/26 at the price of 1,300 RON/person.
The stay includes a festive meal with traditional dishes and fried lamb on the first day of Easter. For those who wish to participate in the Lord's Resurrection service, the Neamt Monastery is just 1 km away. Children ages 8 to 14 are charged 50 percent, and those up to 8 stay for free.
In her turn, Diana Ilut, deputy chair of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT) and chair of the North-West Regional Council of ANAT, maintained that 2022 started off strong from a tourism point of view, however, with the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the requests have dropped suddenly.
"This year started, from a tourism point of view, in force. We had a month of January 2022 which gave the impression that we left the hard times behind. Unfortunately, with the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the requests dropped suddenly. The entirety of March was under the effect of this trend, with signs of recovery only towards the end of the period. Today we are noting an increase in demand, both for internal, as well as external, tourism. The operators in tourism, who learnt the lesson of patience and didn't rush to cancel flights to foreign destinations and insisted on promoting destinations in Romania drew the winning ticket. (...) In the case of internal tourism, it seems that it had the largest impact. At least Maramures and Bucovina, tourist regions close to the Romanian-Ukrainian border, had a lot to suffer. The reality is that there are Ukrainian refugees in these regions, but they are already 'our own', participating in the life of the community, some of them already having jobs and their children in some form of education. Tourism is recovering slowly and the accommodation units that hosted refugees are being returned to the tourist circuit, special accommodation spaces existing for refugees at this time. Anyway, their number dropped by a lot," said for AGERPRES, Diana Ilut, who is also General Director of SfaraTours Baia Mare.
In Maramures, the accommodation spaces are expecting guests and are prepared with traditional foods: drob (e.n. - a type of lamb offal pie traditionally eaten over Easter), easter eggs, lamb's cheese, homemade ham, lamb soup with sorrel and, for "recovery" after Lent, a nettle soup. The tables are to be filled with the jar of shredded horseradish, the bottle of plum brandy, and freshly baked cozonac (e.n. - a type of sweet bread).
Thus, at a three-star guesthouse in Ocna Sugatag, tourists can opt for a three-night stay (April 22-25, 2022) with breakfast and dinner included, as well as a festive dinner at a price of 1,270 RON/person (in a double room), while at a 4-star hotel in Danesti, also for a 3-night tour, guests may pay 1,900 RON/person, for a package including all meals, a festive dinner and a cultural programme. Of course, at a 5-star guesthouse in Petrova, the price can reach 2,190 RON/person for a three-night stay in the April 22-25, 2022 period, including all meals, a dinner in the wine cellar, as well as a wine and fine cheese tasting.
"There are guesthouses that have reduced prices, depending on the occupancy rate, as well as the classification level of the accommodation space, the options offered to spend free time and the number of meals included," added Ilut.
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According to Gabriela Oprea, sales manager of tour operator Accent Travel & Events, Romanian tourists are less interested in spending this year's Easter holiday in the Maramures area, due to the proximity to the conflict area in Ukraine, but the fact that many bed and breakfasts in the area are hosting refugees also mattered.
"Accent Travel & Events contracted and is promoting vacation offers for the Easter holidays in all tourist destinations in Romania, both in the areas where Easter traditions and customs are still alive, for example Maramures and Bucovina, as well as the main mountain, spa or littoral towns. The booking rate up to this time of our Easter packages is low for Bucovina, Maramures or the [Danube] Delta. The fear of tourists due to the proximity of the conflict area or the hosting of refugees in bed&breakfasts have determined this area not be in the list of preferences of our clients," said Gabriela Oprea.
The representatives of the agency prepared for tourists packages with activities specific to Easter, such as participation in the Easter Mass, participation in cooking foods and painting eggs.
For trips to Maramures, tourists can ride the Mocanita (e.n. - a type of narrow gauge train), visit the wooden monasteries and the Merry Cemetery of Sapanta, but also have at their disposal cooking and pottery-making workshops with local craftsmen.
Offers from Cistour travel agency for the Easter Holiday are represented by tourist circuits in Bucovina, Covasna or Apuseni, which offer tourists the possibility of taking part in the Resurrection Service in nearby monasteries and activities such as egg painting, prices going from 950 RON for 3 nights.
"This year our tourists chose to traditionally spend their holiday in areas such as Bucovina, Covasna, Apuseni, having the possibility of visiting several tourist points, but also specific activities to the area, such as egg painting, visits to the monasteries, the Resurrection Service, but also trips with the narrow-gauge train or by wagon," said Iulian Zaharia, marketing director for Cistour.
The prices for Easter circuits start from 950 RON / person, and the price includes transport via coach, 3 night stay at a 3 star hotel with breakfast + dinner (dinner on the first night will be a fasting dinner), Easter snack, Resurrection Service and the festive dinner.
According to the agency, prices have remained the same from the same period of last year, for internal circuits, as well as for abroad. Thus, the traditional Easter circuit in Bucovina - Putna Monastery, 4 days, costs 1,450 RON / person.
The marketing director of Cistour, Iulian Zaharia, specified that sales for tourist packages for the Easter period have immediately gone up following the lifting of restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The offer for Bucovina from Scorilo Travel Vacante contains participation to Resurrection services in monasteries in the area, but also other activities such as folklore shows, traditional meals or trips with the narrow-gauge train.
For the Easter Holiday, Scorilo Travel Vacante offers three internal destinations, and one of them is Easter in Bucovina, with accommodations in Sadova, and the program contains visits to monasteries in the area - Humor, Voronet, Moldovita, Sucevita. Furthermore, in our program we have a group of dancers on Easter day and participation to the Resurrection service," Costin Corboianu, from Scorilo Travel Vacante, declared for AGERPRES.
The program also includes a visit to the Neamt Fortress and the Ion Creanga Memorial Home.
Furthermore, the agency also has an offer for Maramures and Bucovina, with a circuit that covers both areas and separate getaways.
"We divided Romania in the so-called lands, Lapus, Hateg, Historic Maramures, Fagaras, Silvaniei, which we deepen during the trips. We are doing Romania at a rate of 90%. There are destinations where you cannot reach with large buses, such as the Valul Miresei Waterfall, Alun Quarry, Cheile Nerei, where we go with smaller means of transportation. The most requested trips are the new ones, mountain hiking and themed trips. Prices for Easter are the same as ones from last year. The offers were made before the services got more expensive, fuel as well. But you must know that there is a recoil felt in reservations after February 24, in the sense that there are fewer since the war in Ukraine started. I hope that this war will be over as soon as possible," said Costin Corboianu, the owner of Scorilo Travel Vacante.
