The Moldovan tour operators stopped selling tourist tickets to Crimea and other destinations in Ukraine. The states from the EU have now become more popular with the Moldovan tourists, IPN reports, quoting the director of the Tourism Agency Nicolae Platon.

“This is due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but the people however continue to travel to the Ukrainian resorts by themselves,” stated Nicolae Platon.

He noted that most of the about 7,000-10,000 Moldovan tourists who earlier vacationed in Crimea this year opted for a vacation in Romania and Bulgaria. “By the price, the tourist offers for these countries are similar to those for Crimea. A stay of 7-8 days there costs £250 per person. When choosing to rest in Romania and Bulgaria, our nationals usually prefer economical variants like two- and three-star hotels,” said the director of the Tourism Agency.

He also said that over 60,000 Moldovan tourists vacationed in Bulgaria in 2014, while over 18,000 in Romania. This year the given destinations became more attractive. After the visa requirements for the EU were abolished, the attractiveness of other EU states, such as Greece, Spain and the Czech Republic, has increased.

According to Nicole Platon, Turkey remains the favorite destination of the Moldovans. About 60,000 Moldovans vacation there annually. “Approximately 80% of the Moldovan tourists vacation in Turkey, choosing five-star hotels, with the ‘all inclusive‘ option, and pay €450 to €1,000 for this,” he stated.

Platon stated that more than 180,000 Moldovans go to vacation abroad through the agency of travel agencies each year. However, a lot of Moldovans travel abroad, especially to the EU states, by themselves, without using the services of travel agencies.