Romania turns to unconventional to promote tourism

Facebook and the brand of a world champion boxer are the Romanian government's latest efforts to promote the country's struggling tourism industry. Romania’s iconic image is usually tied to the vampire Count Dracula. For years, this fictional character was used to attract foreign tourists interested in mystery while driving along Transylvania’s dense, ancient forests and over mountain passes.

But now, Romanian officials are trying to promote the Balkan country in a more unconventional way. The Tourism Ministry announced on November 17 that it has chosen world champion pugilist Lucian Bute, the current IBF Super Middleweight champion and Romanian native, to promote the country’s new tourism brand. The Ministry plans to organise one of the top boxer’s matches in Bucharest next year and Bute, who lives and fights out of Montreal, may wear Romania's tourism logo during his matches. He will also talk about Romania during his press conferences and promote the country whenever he has the opportunity, Tourism Minister Elena Udrea explained.

Earlier this month, the Ministry also announced that a Romanian tourism page will appear next spring on the social networking site Facebook. These efforts are sorely needed, as Romania lags far behind its eastern European neighbours in this sector. In 2009, Romania welcomed 1.275 million foreign tourists, compared with 5.739 million in Bulgaria and 9 million in Hungary. Romanians who work in the sector welcome any unconventional way to promote the country as a tourism destination, including new media, but they also deplore the lack of a clear strategy for boosting the industry.

“It’s a pity that Romania still doesn’t have a national Web site where any interested tourist could pick up needed information,” says Radu Enache, owner of hotel chain in the country.

 “Different tours and locations are promoted but Romania lacks a strategy in order to become a tourist destination,” he added.

In August, Romania launched a tourism campaign at the Shanghai World Expo, including a logo – a green leaf – and a new brand: “Explore the Carpathian garden”. But soon after, Romanian media reported that the logo resembled that of a British waste transport company.

The Tourism Ministry decided to freeze payments to the British-Spanish company responsible for the campaign until the issue is resolved, although the image is being used for the moment. Minister Udrea even welcomed the plagiarism claims, saying “the brand was promoted in a way we wouldn’t have been able to afford”.

While the authorities are trying to find unconventional ways to help boost tourism at home, Romania's revenues from this sector pale in comparison to its neighbours. According to official data from 2009, Romania's revenues from tourism amounted to €882 million. In comparison, Bulgaria's income from foreign tourists in the same year was €3.72 billion, Hungary pulled in €5.63 billion and Croatia €8.8 billion, according to Eurostat data.

News source: BalkanInsight link: article