Chisinau is a less explored city, and many tourists who are already tired of “mainstream” tourism, tired of big tourist cities, prefer to explore new locations and less common lifestyles, said Roman Vitiuc, head of the General Directorate of Economy, Commerce and Tourism, during an IPN debate on Chisinau’s freshly presented 2022-2026 Tourism Strategy.

“I think this is a very big advantage for Chisinau. Having the geographical positioning that we have, with distances on the east-west axis that can be covered by plane in two to three hours, we are a convenient destination for all those who want to visit our city”, argued Roman Vitiuc.

Asked to talk about the Strategy’s weaknesses as well, the official admitted that one of the problems is the weak tourist infrastructure - for example, today we do not have routes that a tourist could cover either on foot or bicycle in maximum safety and comfort. Another example is that there are is no one integrated electronic ticket that tourists could use on all modes of public transport like in other European capitals, but also the fact that it is not always possible to pay for the trip with a debit card. “But it is important that the advantages of the Strategy outweigh the weaknesses”, the official concluded, adding that the activities carried out under the Strategy will be evaluated annually, and remedying deficiencies will be one of the objectives.

In general, the major challenge is that an exact budget line has not yet been identified to implement the Strategy during all the five years for which it is foreseen, and due to economic uncertainty and difficulties in estimating costs, it was decided that budgeting should be done for each year separately. Moreover, in a context of budgetary austerity, the authorities also count on the support of foreign donors, tourism organizations and private partners to implement the Strategy.

Speaking about some innovative aspects of the Strategy, Roman Vitiuc mentioned adventure tourism. To cover this niche, the municipality is thinking about relaunching the Buiucani cable car, and building a track nearby to serve skiers in the winter and mountain bikers for the rest of the year. Another plan is to create an underground kayaking route in the Chisinau Mine. With an estimated length of 2.4 km, this route would be, according to him, the longest of its kind in Europe. At the same time, La Izvor Park is being developed as a specific destination for various sports activities - soon, it will host the European Beach Soccer Championship, and the municipality is relying on this kind of events, as well, to attract tourists.

Picking up the subject of gastronomic tourism from other panelists, Roman Vitiuc said that the municipality made the right decision when it allowed cafes and restaurants to make their verandas permanent - until recently, in Chisinau, outdoor areas such as verandas were only allowed for the summer and had to be disassembled afterwards. “This measure has incentivized businesses in this area to invest and develop their concept, and as a result (this) is reflected in the reviews made by the visitors to our city”.

Another tactic to attract tourists is interconnected with the current administration’s policy of investing in parks, squares and other public spaces throughout the city, not just in the center. This way, says Roman Vitiuc, the residents have the opportunity to enjoy open air in the immediate vicinity of where they live and, at the same time, the flow of visitors to the city is more evenly distributed.

In the context of business development in the field of tourism, the official also spoke about the newly approved municipal program to support startups launched by young people and migrants. With its help, the municipality will invest up to 200,000 lei per business on the condition of an own contribution of 30%.

“It is very important to have a strategy not for the sake of having a strategy (...) It is important that this document is put into practice and serves as a foundation for all the actions that we have planned at a strategic level. We realize, of course, that we will not be able to achieve 100% of all the expected activities, but for sure we will make every effort, and through periodical monitoring, through adjustments made depending on the situation in certain areas, we will intervene, so that the most important activities in the Strategy until 2026 are carried out”, concluded Roman Vitiuc.

Developed by the Directorate of Economy, Trade and Tourism, with the support of the National Association of Incoming and Domestic Tourism of Moldova (ANTRIM) and experts in urban architecture and history, Chisinau’s 2022-2026 Tourism Strategy aims to identify the tourist, historical, human, social and economic potential and the opportunities for tourism development of Chisinau. The document is to be approved by the Chisinau Municipal Council.