Hotels and tourism agencies fight as Romanian currency improves

The artificial growth of tourism prices in Romania might exclude the country from the market, a press release of the National Association of Tourist Agencies (ANAT) says on Tuesday. As the Romanian currency RON strenghtens against the dollar and the euro, companies are losing their profits.

The appreciation of the Romanian RON on the market is due mainly to the speculation interventions bring benefits for importers, ANAT argues.

Considering that all major incoming contracts for 2008 are settled now and that hotel set prices in local currency, ANAT warns that Romania will fail to attract even less foreign tourists.

Specialists argue that tourism is a very competitive market and that if Romania fails to position itself wisely, it can exit the market.

When it comes to losses, the fight is between hotels and tourism agencies who refuse to support any revenue loss.

ANAT’s solution for diminishing the effects of the situation is to cut off the VAT for Incoming programs.