Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria are some of the destinations preferred by Romanians for their summer holidays this year. In many cases, these have replaced much more expensive destinations, due to lower holiday budgets, according to several travel operators interviewed by Business Standard.

"In 2009, with or without a lower budget, Romanian tourists will travel abroad. They will no longer go to Bali, but they will head to Turkey, they will no longer go to Tenerife, but they will choose an exotic holiday in Greece," the General Manager of Happy Tour, Gabriel Ionescu, told Business Standard yesterday.

Some tour operators have doubled the number of charters for Turkey, even though prices of offers for this country rose 10-12 percent year-on-year. Officials of the Flynova travel agency said that 72 percent of its 5,000 tourists in 2008 chose Turkey.

Romanians will not forego European cities this year. "Rome, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Barcelona, and Milan are this summer's stars," said officials of the National Association of Travel Agencies in Romania. Prices for these destinations amount to some €500 for a few days, including transportation and all fees.

Source: Standart.Ro