Moldova’s attractiveness for tourists is on the rise (Economic analysis by Info-Prim Neo)

The tourism and hotel industry is on the rise, an evolution typical for the next years as well. The financial results for 2005 are good enough, while 2006 could be better, according to tourism operators. The manager-general of the hotel complex Dedeman Grand Chisinau, Ziya Cihan, says that the hotel market in Moldova is developing; prices are at European level, while the number of clients is on the rise. He estimated that the hotel market will grow in continuation, if more businessmen, delegations, international organisations, and tourists visit Moldova. The deputy director of the hotel complex Codru, Veceaslav Nanu, confirms the rise of the number of clients. He said that the higher number of clients is mostly due to political stability. As regards the development of tourism industry, the director of the tourism agency Canonic Tur, Mihail Cealicov, indicated the need of a state policy on tourism, which would stipulate among others the revision of visa regime for foreigners, allocation of financial resources for road arrangement, facilities for businesses willing to invest in tourism. Operators on market also highlight the need of ample actions aimed to promote the local tourism at different international exhibitions, as well as to improve the image of the state in general. According to the Canonic Tur director, the Transnistrian conflict is negatively affecting the image of the country and tourism sector. As regards the participation in different international exhibitions, the ad-interim director of the National Association of Tourism Agencies (ANAT), Nicolae Platon, said that Moldova has attended a number of specialised exhibitions last year, last time in Berlin, and it will participate in two international fairs in the cities of Moscow and London this year. According to Platon, international exhibitions have positive effects. Thus, the number of tourists who visited Moldova rose by 27 percent after participation in the Berlin exhibition. ANAT data show that the number of tourists who visit Moldova grows by 20-30 percent every year. According to Platon, the government should foresee investments in development of infrastructure, improvement of access to tourism facilities, and to agree with Moldovan hotels to reduce the price of accommodation services and to launch promotional tourism packages, first of all regarding accommodation services, in order to develop the tourism sector. Like other representatives of tourism industry, Platon considers that the visa regime should be reviewed. Even more, he recommends that citizens of the European Union, Canada and the United States should obtain Moldovan visa for free, the way ANAT has earlier proposed, and the group visa should cost 10 dollars, while the individual visa should be worth 20 dollars. Moldova has one of the dearest visas in Eastern, Central and Western Europe. The ANAT director indicates three tourism sectors that develop rapidly in Moldova: business tourism, vine growing and wine making tourism and rural tourism. He considers that these three forms of tourism should be promoted and supported, as part of a wider strategy on tourism development and attraction of foreign tourists. According to statistics, 18,300 foreign tourists visited Moldova in January-September 2005 and they stayed 3.8 days on average. The tourism sector holds 0.03 percent of GDP.