Foreigners come to Bucharest for the nightlife too, but most of them are here for business and city break tourism, Cristian Barhalescu, secretary of state within the Regional Development and Tourism Ministry (MDRT), stated for Mediafax. “We rely on the high number of persons visiting the Palace of Parliament and tourist attractions,” Barhalescu added. The secretary of state’s statement is supported by Mohammad Murad, President of the Federation of Romanian Tourism Operators (FPTR) and one of the biggest hotel operators in Romania, owner of the Phoenicia chain, who stated recently for Mediafax that of the 650,000 foreign tourist that visit Bucharest every year 75 per cent do it for business, 15 per cent (approximately 100,000) do it for personal relationships, visiting girlfriends, and only 10 per cent do it purely for tourism. Contacted, Murad states that he does not feel contradicted by the MDRT representative. On the other hand, the introduction of the Integrated Tourist Accounting System (SIET) was postponed for January, the system being currently tested by tourism operators.
previous post
