"Doesn't it mean that only hoteliers should have an agreement, not tourists?"
In recent weeks, we have published several articles about the unexpected opportunity that our seaside has this year. Yes, it can become the main summer destination for Romanian tourists. The analyses were based on studies conducted at European level, but also on the statements of some hotel managers who understood that it was time to reinvent themselves, to offer impeccable services in order to no longer give Romanian tourists the opportunity to exclaim “but look how it is in Greece or Bulgaria” . Since none of us have really encountered a forest without droughts, a few days ago, I received the message of some Romanian tourists who, for 12 years, have been spending their holidays on our seaside . I chose to publish this message, with the tourists' consent, to give an example of HOW A CUSTOMER SHOULD NOT BE TREATED.
"Instead of being happy that they are tourists who never thought of canceling the reservation and keeping the initially agreed price, they speculated on the moment and said: yes, we are rescheduling, but with a higher price"
"For us, a husband-wife family, Romanian tourism has been and still is the only option for the last 12 years, because we like it in the country. We want to show you how the hotel where we had a reservation understood to reschedule us (because all hoteliers want to reschedule, right?) I booked a room at a 4-star hotel in Mangalia (we will not write its name) since January. for a 14-night stay, with breakfast and sunbeds included. I made the reservation by email, after requesting the offer, directly from the hotel (starting from June 22, 2020). As the hotel did not have an early-booking offer, we did not get any discount, but only an extra night added to our stay. However, for the rather long duration of the stay, the people at the hotel were nice and offered us a bigger room, with a sofa, for the price of a smaller room; I paid an advance of 1000 lei for the stay. Following the outbreak of the epidemic, we requested the hotel to reschedule the stay, because we didn't even think for a moment to give up and ask for the advance back. The hotel has rescheduled the stay from July 26. So far, everything is ok, as it should normally be. But, there is no question that the total price will be the same, because the stay does not start in June but in July, the offer of 6 plus 1 free no longer exists, and the total price is of course much higher. Therefore, in order not to give up the holiday, we reduced the stay to 12 nights and confirmed the new reservation.
If all hoteliers do this, don't expect tourists to keep their reservations. Certainly, many will cancel them and ask for their money back. Instead of being happy that they are tourists who never thought of canceling the reservation and keeping the originally agreed price, they speculated on the moment and said: yes, we are rescheduling, but with a higher price."
"In this completely unusual situation, which no one could foresee, the price of the rooms for July and August should not be fixed"
“I wrote these lines to you following the interview I read with the hotelier in Mamaia , who is requesting understanding from tourists to keep tourism alive. But should only hoteliers have an understanding, not tourists? Wasn't it normal for the hotel to thank us for not giving up and to keep the initial price? In this completely extraordinary situation, which no one could have foreseen, the room prices for July and August should not be fixed. And while I have written to you, now, in the current situation, we see that all, absolutely all hoteliers are complaining that they will no longer have customers because cancellations of stays are the order of the day. But in past years, we have also had hoteliers who, in relation to the length of stay for which we requested offers (14 nights), replied that they could not give us any discount:
-"we can't give you a discount, it doesn't matter how long the stay is, because we are always full anyway!"
-"it doesn't matter that you stay that long, because we also have business clients, 60 days at a time"
-"we cannot include sunbeds in the offer, we have a private beach, but managed by someone else".
This was the attitude of many hoteliers before the crisis.
Let's be clear, we didn't request offers from hotels to necessarily get a discount, but some hotels, over the years, have also had early-booking offers, we also got a small discount based on the duration, they also included the sun loungers in the total price. And we found that the attitude of the hoteliers was only ok vis-à-vis Bucharest tourists, who, compared to the relatively short distance, afford to come dozens of times per season, to the seaside , for 1-2 days (we suspect that's where the attitude of "we're always full"). 99 percent of hoteliers have no appreciation for the fact that a family comes and stays at the seaside for 2 weeks, only those who come regularly count. Last year, I was in Mamaia, on a stay of the same duration, and the people at the sun loungers told us that yes, we could reserve the same sun loungers every day, primarily by the sea, except on Saturday and Sunday, when those who come on the weekend have priority (attitude of respect towards the client who stays for 2 weeks, right?)
We live 900 km from the coast, we go once a year, that's why we schedule 14-night stays, because it's impossible to go more than once in the same season. "
This message should be read and re-read by those who have business on the Romanian coast. The case of this family is not unique, and if the attitude of some hoteliers does not change this year, the Romanian coast will lose instead of gain.
