Budgeters use their vacation tickets in August, the most expensive month of the entire summer season
While preparing for the 2020 summer season and unique offers appearing on the Romanian market (discounts on early booking discounts), the largest hoteliers on the coast conducted an analysis of summer 2019. They drew a line, compared the figures in Excel and here's what came out.
Prices up 4% in 2019 compared to 2018
The analysis is carried out by the Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers, an organization in which the largest hoteliers in our country are registered. According to data collected by FPTR, in 2019, the seaside recorded a slight increase in the number of tourists, namely 3%, compared to 2018. Two years ago, seaside hoteliers took the plunge with the help of holiday vouchers and reported figures 22% higher than in 2017. In terms of prices, the seaside became 4% more expensive than last season.
According to data presented by FPTR, 1.208.999 tourists were officially registered during the summer season , 40.890 more than last year. When analyzing the nationality of tourists who arrived on the Romanian coast, hoteliers noticed that Romanians are rediscovering summer resorts, while foreigners are disappearing. In 2019, 1.476 fewer foreign tourists were registered compared to last year. The top 10 countries of origin of foreign tourists who arrived on the Romanian coast, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics for July, was led by Germany, followed by the USA , Israel , France, Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Austria, and the Republic of Moldova.
Budget workers use the holiday vouchers in August
The occupancy rate on the seaside in June was slightly over 50% thanks to the special program “The Coast for All” and tickets sold through the early booking system . “In recent years, due to heavy rains throughout the country, the occupancy rate was low at the beginning of July. This year, in the first three months of the season, there was an increase in the number of tourists arriving on the seaside by 8,6% compared to the same period last year. Even though the good weather returned, starting in August, the number of tourists did not increase as spectacularly as last year, the percentage being only 5% higher compared to the same month last year,” says Dragoș Răducan, executive vice president of FPTR.
The FPTR analysis also shows that most holiday vouchers issued by public institutions in Romania were redeemed in August when prices are highest. “The change in the structure of the school year caused many seaside hotels to close before mid-September, when schools started ,” Răducan added.
Mamaia, Eforie Nord and Venus were the resorts with the highest demand, and at the opposite pole were Olimp, Cap Aurora and Eforie Sud
According to the official website of the Ministry of Tourism, in September 2019, in the resorts on the Romanian coast, including Constanța , Eforie and Mangalia, there were 2082 classified accommodation structures, which had 61.736 accommodation spaces and provided a number of 132.217 accommodation places, 10.937 more than last year. Most of the accommodation places are represented by places in hotels, approximately 75.001 , and the remaining 57.216 accommodation places are in villas, campsites, hostels.
According to FPTR, accommodation spaces in 1-2 star hotels were sold 60% through travel agencies and 40% through other booking channels. Accommodation spaces in 3, 4 and 5 star hotels were sold 45% through travel agencies and 55% through other booking systems. The most sought-after resorts were Mamaia , Eforie Nord and Venus, and at the bottom of the ranking were Olimp, Cap Aurora and Eforie Sud.
Bookings officially communicated by the airbnb platform increased by 298% in 2019 vs 2018
I return to an analysis through which we demonstrate that the data collected by the INS does not actually show the reality. Here, in addition to the fears of the big players in the tourism sector, now comes the official data communicated by the airbnb.com platform. According to the official announcement, our country is in 5th place worldwide in terms of number of reservations, with an increase of 298% in 2019 compared to 2018. The airbnb.com platform is used by foreign tourists who want to reach not only the Romanian seaside, but all over Romania.
"We note that Romania is also rapidly adapting to the global trend of sharing accommodation. 20% of private homes in seaside resorts and towns are rented during the summer season, which generates a very large number of accommodated people. It is not known what the exact volume of undeclared and unquantified tourism is in the thousands of unclassified apartments operating as hotel rentals (Mamaia, Navodari), in houses and apartments offered by locals (Constanța, Eforie, Vama-Veche, 2 Mai, Mangalia) or in other unclassified tourist reception structures, capitalized on online," says Dragoș Răducan.
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