Number of Moldovan tourists travelling to EU is on the decrease

The number of Moldovan tourists travelling to the European Union has almost halved, experts say. At a roundtable meeting on Friday, the independent expert Viorel Miron stated that the decreasing number of Moldovan tourists in the EU is just one of the many problems of the Moldovan tourism. With Romania joining the EU in January 2007, the Moldovan tourists have seen a new ‘iron curtain’ rising over the Prut. Even though visas are issued free of charge, the procedure is exhausting and sometimes humiliating. Miron says that, although Moldova has eased the burden on the tourists from the EU zone by exempting them from paying visa fees and sparing them from queuing at travel agencies for a Moldovan visa, the citizens of Moldova are still discriminated when they plan to spend their vacation in Europe. The existing problems of the Moldovan tourism have been itemised by Viorel Miron in his analytical work titled “Trade Relations between Moldova and the European Union in Tourism”. The study found that, under the abovementioned circumstances, the travel agencies in Moldova see themselves compelled to reroute tourists to other countries, at the cost of lost trust, partnerships and positions on the market. Viorel Miron criticised the Government for not being able to introduce concretes measure in the Moldova-EU Action Plan to promote tourism. While giving credit to the Government for adjusting the legislation to the conjuncture of the global tourism market, the expert complained that the steps taken have been insufficient for the sector to develop properly. Furthermore, the national touristic offer is imbalanced and limited as tourist attractions are not properly developed. Under these circumstances, Moldova remains quite unknown for tourists, Melnic says. Nearly three-fourths of the visiting tourists originate from as few as four countries. And most of them are not here for leisure. The round table themed “Development of the Moldovan Tourism in light of European Integration” was organised by the Analytical Centre Expert-Grup.