Bucharest Does Not Exist As City-Break Destination

06.01.2011 By Tiron Mirabela

Although the trend of city breaks shaped up in the region several years ago, Bucharest is lagging way behind some capitals such as Budapest or Prague, which are attracting thousands of tourists every weekend, significantly increasing travel operators’ revenues.

Google search results for city break in Bucharest show several travel agencies in UK and one in Slovenia promoting such a package.

"We're talking about a very small market when referring to Bucharest. We sell to Britons 20-25 city break holidays for Bucharest annually," says Brett Smith, representative of UK-based tour operator Vamos Travel, one of the few foreign companies that included Bucharest in their city break packages. On the page promoting Bucharest, the company recommends several hotels, including Hotel Central and Athenee Palace Hilton, following partnerships sealed with them.

Tourism and Regional Development Ministry (MDRT) officials said they do not have data on the number of city break visitors to Romania, but they are confident that the completion of a marketing strategy and the implementation of an electronic tourist monitoring system will allow them to answer such questions.

"The capital can be called a city break destination when it receives several thousands of visitors at weekends. We are promoting city break holidays in Bucharest abroad, but I believe we bring 1,000 tourists per year. (…)", says Cristian Pandel, owner of Christian Tour travel agency.

Adrian Adam, marketing and sales manager of Radisson Blu hotel in Bucharest, said there is city break-type travel in Bucharest, but at a much lower level than in other European capitals.