Romania needs 30 million euros annually for tourism promotion, and this amount could come from tourists by introducing a tax of one euro per night of accommodation and not from the state budget, the vice-president of the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT), Adrian Voican, said on Wednesday.
"I said it clearly: we need 30 million euros annually and when I say that I'm not saying these money should necessarily come from the state budget, because it has never happened in 35 years. It would mean a financing project of 150 million (euro) for 5 years, to reach some key figures. But I also gave a solution. It's a simple one. I didn't discover it, it's already being used in other places, and we saw it applied in joint projects with the European Commission and the OECD. One euro per night of accommodation, for 30 million nights, adds up to 30 million euros at the state level. If we take it from the tourist, the tourist won't ask what you did with that euro from me? Because he is used to paying 8 euros - 9 euros in other capital cities and international tourist cities. We won't be able to take this money from the budget, because we have to deal with armaments, we have to deal with highway construction," said Adrian Voican.
He added that overcharging the private operator is no longer a solution, because it "is already overburden."
On the other hand, Voican mentioned that Romania's international presence has year on year, "it is a little better if we compare ourselves with the 180-190 countries that are present only at the fairs in London or Berlin."
In his opinion, tourism and the hospitality industry represent the largest employer in the world, after the state, and Romania must exploit this potential.
"1.4 billion people travel around the world outside their countries, on vacation, so let's realize that tourism is the largest employer in the world, 10% outside the state. The state is in the first place everywhere in the world, but tourism comes right after that, the hospitality industry," Adrian Voican said.
He also showed that Romania has 1% of Europe's accommodation nights, respectively 30 million nights, but Europe has 3 billion, and these tourists easily spend their money on vacations.
"They have a budget of two, three, four thousand euros, which they spend two or three times a year. It's a lot of money, it's a shame not to bring it to the country," the vice-president of ANAT said.
In her turn, Camelia Tarniceru, head of service in the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEDAT), announced that Romania will participate in 14 tourism fairs this year, the amount allocated by the ministry in this regard being 10 million RON.
"Romania will participate in 14 fairs this year. Fairs are not the only solution. Last year, we also did promotional campaigns in France, in Germany during the championship, we did it in London and in Warsaw, on four markets," the MEDAT advisor said.
In 2025, the total budget for promoting Romania is 4 million euros, of which two million euros represents the amount for participation in international fairs, while last year it exceeded 4.4 million euros.
The two officials participated in the press conference organized on Tuesday, in Sinaia, within a promotional event for specialists dedicated to mountain resorts "Rediscover the Prahova Valley."
The promotional event is organized by ANAT, in partnership with APDT Prahova (The Association for Promotion and Development of Tourism) and the Tourism Employers' Organization Poiana Brasov.
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