The Danube Delta Tourist Destination Management Association includes some of the largest tourism operators in Tulcea County, as well as owners of small guesthouses. The year 2020 should have been one full of events prepared since last year, but the new conditions, imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, turned all plans upside down. Former governor of the Danube Delta, Cătălin Țibuleac is the one who leads the association and believes that the isolation offered by this unique place can be the main asset for attracting tourists.
From May 15, guesthouses and hotels in the Danube Delta can receive tourists. What measures have been taken to protect them, but also for those who work in these units?
The administrators of the hotels and guesthouses in the Danube Delta are making efforts to welcome tourists on vacation, starting from May 15, in safe conditions, but unfortunately the inconsistency of the measures taken at the government level, especially in tourism, including the communication regarding the socio-economic relaxation, determines us to be reserved about the opening of guesthouses and hotels. Even in these conditions, the hospitality industry in the Danube Delta is ready to welcome tourists.
Although the Ministry of Health has not yet defined the minimum conditions that must be met to ensure the safety of tourists, most guesthouses and hotels in the Danube Delta have taken a series of measures in this regard:
- protective sanitary masks, for staff, but also for tourists (although they should bring them);
- disinfectants for various types of surfaces and hand sanitizer, equipping common spaces with disinfectant dispensers;
- establishing a clear timetable, to be brought to the knowledge of tourists, of the daily cleaning and disinfection operation of rooms and common spaces, during which tourists must stay outside exclusively or carry out other types of outdoor recreation activities;
- the use by the cleaning staff in the rooms of a specific protective equipment (possibly coveralls).
- mats with chlorine solution at outside entrances;
- staff training to comply with hygiene and health safety requirements.
What will happen to the tourist meals? We know that there is no delivery service in Delta. How will this problem be solved?
Running feeding areas by setting up patios (obviously we won't be able to run restaurants) with the hope that the weather won't be rainy or windy:
- ensuring social distancing (it will not work from the point of view of tourists, but the tables will be properly arranged to respect the minimum distance);
- the staff who will serve the meal will wear a mask and gloves;
- in the idea that the virus has some resistance on textile surfaces, there is the idea of giving up tablecloths and using those disposable paper aprons;
- hourly schedule, by groups, for serving breakfast or serving at the door of the room;
- the display in the common spaces of the rules that must be respected by tourists and possibly the signing by them of declarations that they will respect the rules of the guesthouse.
We must remember that the vast majority of guesthouses and hotels in the Danube Delta have places to eat in nature, in a magical atmosphere and which implicitly ensure the conditions of social distancing.
How will the tourists get to the guesthouses in the isolated areas. Will they use regular water transport, will they be brought by speedboats by hostel managers? And if they still end up in the Danube Delta, tourists want to go for walks. What will be the conditions for such trips?
Most guesthouse managers are prepared to transfer tourists from the shore to the accommodation, with the implementation of hygiene measures and probably reducing the number of passengers. The same conditions will apply to walks in the Delta.
On the other hand, there are also passenger ships, which also circulated during the state of emergency and where hygiene and social distancing measures are implemented.
Let's also get to the price chapter - the implementation of safety measures means new costs for the owners of guesthouses and hotels. Will holidays in the Danube Delta become more expensive?
Regarding the additional costs for implementing health safety measures, we do not believe that the Government will financially support the administrators' efforts. This year, the issue is not about profit for hoteliers in the Danube Delta, but only about survival, a context in which the vast majority of guesthouse and hotel owners in the Danube Delta decided to maintain the rates set at the end of 2019 , so that a vacation in the Danube Delta remains accessible to everyone. The guesthouses and hotels in the Delta will try to make a regulation with their own procedures and traceability, based on common sense and taking into account the danger that lurks around us. Tourism will move from extreme isolation to the front line of risk.
What is the promotion strategy of the Danube Delta to attract tourists this year?
In 2020 and in the following years, it is necessary to reorient the whole concept of promotion, in a context in which in the future it will be focused on online, on all social media channels and on effective communication through audio-visual mass media.
Obviously, everything we planned at the end of last year, festivals, concerts, participation in Tourism Fairs can no longer be realized, but fortunately the communication/promotion strategy designed by the Danube Delta Association in 2019, has a distinct chapter on promotion through the online environment.
In this sense, we will focus on the organization of press trips, partnerships with televisions, online guides, with the promotion of the Danube Delta destination, its specifics, the communities and, of course, the accommodation locations. In practice, we will have to reinvent ourselves from all points of view and not forget that "the Danube Delta exists even after COVID".
A first step has already been taken in this regard, the Danube Delta Tourist Destination Management Association initiating a first project, by moving the SOUNDRISE festival online, which was originally supposed to take place in Sulina, the easternmost city of Romania, at the end of of July 2020. In this sense, we decided to organize bimonthly online concerts that ensure the promotion of Delta through films and images.
The first edition, which took place on May 2, was a real success, with well-known artists Florin Chilian, Ada Milea, Fără Zahar, Spam, Folk Frate joining the Association, and we will come with new surprises at the May 15 edition.
In any case, the Danube Delta is currently one of the safest destinations in terms of social distancing, recreational activities (fishing, walking on the canals, wild beaches) and of course it remains one of the most beautiful areas due to its uniqueness .
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