Romanian tourism at the moment of route reconfiguration

We are at an important moment for Romanian tourism and the Romanian economy, a moment marked by the urgent need to regain economic competitiveness in an increasingly competitive economic context.
Over the past decades, our competitiveness (whatever there was of it) has been based on low labor costs, friendly taxation, reasonable utility tariffs, or, during a certain period, a low cost of financing. Today, Romania’s economy (with a particular note when we speak about tourism) no longer benefits from any of the aspects listed above:

• Labor costs have reached almost the same level as in many European countries and, certainly, we are at the same level as the countries of Eastern Europe.
• Taxation no longer provides a major differentiation compared to our neighbors, the repeated changes over the past two years having eliminated this advantage that supported Romanian companies.
• Energy today represents a major differentiating factor, unfortunately a negative one for us, as Romania pays more than most European countries – an inexplicable paradox for a country with such resources.
• Financing for Romanian companies is expensive and difficult to access, which hinders initiative and investment in a period marked by extreme dynamism, where speed of reaction becomes one of the essential arguments for success.

If we add to these aspects excessive bureaucracy, the costs induced by cumbersome administration, as well as the lack of promotion and involvement of authorities in supporting local businesses through a coherent image program, we get the picture of the delicate moment we are all going through in our attempt to maintain competitiveness, at least at a regional level.

That is why I say this is the moment to reconfigure the route chosen by each of us (as private companies), as well as by central and local authorities. Today, we seem to be in a vehicle traveling on a road without a destination (lack of assumed objectives), moving without direction (we do not have the necessary strategies) and, above all, moving without a driver (we do not have an assumed authority to lead this vehicle). For several years now, the GPS message has been to reconfigure the route, to choose another path for Romanian tourism, but we continue, out of inertia, to go down the same road, which only takes us further away from the rest of the pack.

It is time for the passengers in the vehicle called Romanian tourism to no longer accept this movement by inertia and to take the reins. We can, and above all we must, do this by assuming a major role in the public–private partnership that will lead to the establishment of the long-awaited National Destination Management Organization – DMO Romania, a body that should have authority, resources, strategy, objectives, and the courage to assume all of these.

Private operators must accept and support this change; they are the first to see that things simply can no longer go on like this. They are on the front line and feel when complicated times are coming; it is in their entrepreneurial spirit to react immediately. They will invest if there is a friendly framework, they will develop their businesses if the market gives them this signal.

Authorities, which for so many years have proven that they are not very skilled at managing this sector, must extend a hand to the private sector and build the appropriate framework for this PPP to function and demonstrate its efficiency, bringing competitiveness and attractiveness to Romanian tourism.

I have always said that tourism is with and about people; it is an industry of smiles, well-being, and a positive image. It is about belonging to a set of values; it means culture, traditions, landscapes, gastronomy, and many other things that a certain country has. Fortunately, Romania has them in abundance, but we do not really know what to do with them. We can choose to do nothing, merely mentioning them in electoral campaigns as elements of political dispute between various political camps, or we can choose to act. It depends only on us!

*This material was taken from the first issue of the print magazine Careers and Business and was written by Călin Ile, Senior Partner at Horwath HTL Romania and Honorary President of FIHR.