Happy Tour CEO: 2017 could be a turning point for Romania's travel market

2017 could be a turning point for the local travel market should it manage to take full advantage of the favorable context, Javier Garcia del Valle, CEO of travel group Happy Tour, tells BR.

More locals and foreign tourists are choosing to spend their holidays in Romania, due to both internal factors and concerns about security elsewhere, says del Valle. One reason is that Romanians have more money to spend on travel following the pay hikes and VAT cuts of recent years, points out the CEO. The increase of the minimum wage in particular has made it possible for a new segment of Romanians to afford a holiday and local destinations are their first choice. Even if the average local tourist remains price sensitive overall, there are also tourists with higher than average budgets who prefer a domestic holiday after years of going to now established travel destinations such as Greece or Turkey.

It also helps that there are more options to choose from locally, goes on del Valle. “The infrastructure is developing too, little by little – probably not at the speed that we all want, but it is happening. More and more we’re seeing new hotels and better service, although there is still a need for better training in service delivery,” he says. Hopefully, the rising demand will not artificially inflate hotel rates, especially when it comes to foreign tourists, stresses the Happy Tour head.

The number of foreign tourists coming to Romania has been increasing too, especially from countries with good flight connections to Romanian cities. “What I am seeing is groups coming from abroad. This is the segment that we have to target. Individuals will keep coming but their budgets will probably be lower. We’re seeing an increase in traffic from Germany and other countries,” adds del Valle.

The number would be even higher should the local authorities finally solve the problem of the road infrastructure, notes the executive. “If I want to put together a tour around Romania I cannot do it based on the distances. I have to build it based on the roads. This is a problem because Romania is a country to visit in ten days with proper roads,” he says, adding that at the moment tours that foreign tourists take leave out important parts of the country such as the north.

Romania is now Happy Tour’s second largest leisure market. “France holds first position mainly because we are the only authorized tour operator for Disneyland Paris and therefore for us France is a key market nowadays. But if we leave this aside then Romania is our biggest growing market with a 28 percent increase in the first quarter.” He believes it could grow overall this year by a level similar to the 40 percent posted in 2016, should everything fall into place.

“There is a momentum that we really need to take advantage of because everything is in our favor. The external situation is not the best, as elsewhere security is an issue. Over here prices are good and Romania can boast an authentic travel experience, unlike other places in Europe that are flooded with tourists. All this represents an opportunity, so let’s makes sure that we use it. And let’s make sure we promote Romania as a destination,” he urges.

Happy Tour saw its turnover increase by 10 percent last year to some EUR 50 million. All of the company’s business contributed to the growth and del Valle says the same should happen this year. The expected growth rate for 2017 is above 11 percent and so far the CEO says the company is ahead of target.