Sources in the tourism industry told MEDIAFAX that the two groups plan to withdraw from Romania because the Tourism Ministry has failed to deliver on a series of promises; one of them was investments of EUR3 million over two years to promote Romania as a destination for German tourists.
The companies are also dissatisfied with the lack of predictability in Romania’s economy, as well as the political situation damaging Romania’s foreign profile. The sources also said state secretary Cristian Barhalescu was in Berlin to negotiate with the tour operators.
Contacted by MEDIAFAX, Barhalescu said he was in Berlin to talk to every German tour operator, not just TUI, and plan a strategy for next year. He would not say whether the companies are happy with their collaboration with Romanian authorities, or vice versa.
In 2006, TUI took Romanian resorts out of its catalogs and stopped bringing tourists to the country, fed up with the expensive accommodation, noise and untidy streets. The operator was brought back in 2010, after negotiations yielded a new contract with the Tourism Ministry.
ITS has been on the local market for some years and the company expressed its dissatisfaction with the quality of services and prices on the Romanian coast as early as 2009.