A bit of history regarding Romanian
tourism
Ciprian Pop
Travel guide, Secretary General “Worker’s
Romania” association
On February 29, 1936, the state
tourist organization “Oficiul National de Turism Carpati” (Carpathian
National Tourist Office) was established. Romanian geographer and
biologist, Emil Racoviţă's idea of establishing a state institution in
the field of tourism materialized in 1926 when the National Tourism Office
(O.N.T.) was founded. But it was not until January 4, 1936, that the O.N.T. it
became an organization with a well-defined status.
In Prague, towards the end of
February 1936, the representatives of the tourist offices of Romania,
Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, laid the foundations of the "Little Tourist
Agreement" [1]
Also, in 1936, the “Balkan
Understanding’ created the Standing Committee on Tourism, "as a propaganda
body intended to prospect and stimulate tourism exchanges in the Balkan
region."
On April 15, 1938, Romania, Greece,
Yugoslavia and Turkey signed a Tourism Agreement in Istanbul, "by which
they granted each other facilities for the promotion of tourism among
themselves."
The change of the Romanian regime
led to the dissolution of the tourist associations during the monarchy,
following the decision of the Council of Ministers of June 11, 1948, and their
patrimony came under the subordination of the National Tourism Office,
according to the National Archives website. The name of this company became
established during the communist regime, which re-established ONT Carpathians
(National Tourism Office) in November 1964, by Decision of the Council of
Ministers no. 908. According to that, the Carpathian NTB was an 'economic
organization of general interest' under the guidance and control of the
Ministry of Foreign Trade.
The free time of the workers - as an
instrument of “socialist education” in Romania - represented, since the 1950s,
a project of interest in order to consolidate the communist power. Pleasure
tourism, or initiation in the beauties of the homeland, was supported, during
1950-1960, by various facilities made available to workers, determining the
emergence of “mass tourism” and “modern tourist” in the Romanian space.[2]
Within the Ministry of Tourism,
appears the Enterprise "Publiturism", specialized in propaganda
and tourist advertising, which publishes and prints almanacs, diaries, albums,
calendars, posters, brochures, leaflets, etc. The Publishing House for Tourism
also operated on the same segment, having as main task the editing of the
magazine "Romania pitoreasca/Welcoming you to Romania".
In order to increase the attractiveness of the seaside and mountain areas, as well as to extend the "season" outside the peak periods, during 1968-1969, the "Golden Stag" Festival was organized in Brașov - held in February - and the Festival of light music "Mamaia", which took place in late August.
For the entertainment and
information of the tourists, the famous "Radio Vacanţa"(radio
Holiday) was set up, which transmitted, during the summer, in four
languages: Romanian, French, English, Russian. The achievement of these
objectives was also possible due to the involvement of the Romanian Ministry of
Culture and Broadcasting.
In 1968, through a decree signed by
Ilie Verdeţ, B.T.T was also established - as a travel agency of the
Communist Youth Union. The young people were sent to the mountains and the
sea, by coach and train, accommodated and fed in hotels, villas and mountain
huts.
The gradual increase in the number
of foreign tourists arriving in Romania in the 1960’s forced the Romanian
authorities in Bucharest to analyze more carefully the situation of hotel units
throughout the country and the means of transport used by the
"Carpati" National Tourist Office. A positive example for Romanian
politicians came from a neighboring country: Yugoslavia. At the February 4,
1969 meeting of the Executive Committee of the CC of the PCR, Nicolae Ceausescu
stated that the Yugoslavs “achieved 600 million dollars revenues
from tourism. So far, they have made about $ 300 million in tourism and are
proposing to reach $ 5-600 million from this field. Look, this is tourism! ”,
Ceausescu had said.[3]
Three months later, Nicolae
Ceausescu proposed, in addition to the agenda, that all members of the
Executive Committee of the CC of the PCR approved “the initiation of
negotiations to obtain bank loans with a longer repayment period”. The
supreme leader of the PCR mentioned, at the meeting of May 13, 1939, the amount
of 250-300 million dollars - which he wanted to obtain from abroad, in terms of
tourism. This was almost equal to the $ 300 million obtained in 1968 by
Yugoslavs from international tourism activities, which they developed in the
1960s.
To give us an idea of the amounts
obtained at that time, an example from August 1967 can be used. Then, the
National Tourist Office announced, through its office in Paris (located on rue
Daunou in the 8th arrondissement), the prices which the Romanian authorities
'had established for Western tourists who wanted to spend two or three weeks on
the Romanian Black Sea coast, in a regime of full pension and transport
provided from Paris to the hotels in Mamaia and Eforie Nord and back, so:
- for the Mamaia resort: 885 French
francs / person (for the periods 28 August - 16 September 1967 and 27 August -
17 September 1967), respectively 765 French francs / person (for the period
9-30 September 1967);
- for the resort of Eforie Nord:
1100 French francs / person (for the period 11 September - 2 October 1967),
respectively 990 French francs / person (for the periods 9 September - 23
September 1967 and 16 September - 30 September 1967).
The value in Romanian currency,
"lei" of the respective amounts can be calculated with the help of
the parity of the two currencies, established by the Romanian authorities on
January 1, 1960 (1.2153 lei for a French franc), to which we add the 200%
premium, introduced in 1964 for tourists. foreigners who exchanged freely
convertible currencies into lei (total: 3.6459 lei for one franc).
Starting from these calculation
elements, we can get an overview of the value of the prices set by the National
Tourism Office for foreign citizens who wanted to visit the Romanian Black Sea
coast in the summer and autumn of 1967: 3226.62 lei (885 francs) and 2789.11
lei (765 francs) for a stay in Mamaia resort, respectively 4010.49 lei (1100
francs) and 3609.44 lei (990 francs) for a vacation spent in Eforie Nord. It
should also be added the fact that those prices included the transport of
tourists - from Paris to the hotels in Mamaia and Eforie Nord and back.
It can be noticed that, in the
middle of the '60s, the accommodation possibilities of tourists in Romania were
reduced. Therefore, Nicolae Ceausescu approved in 1966 the Romanian Ministry of
Tourism possibility to discuss with various foreign investors, interested in
the tourist projects imagined in Bucharest. As a result, a delegation led by
Vasile Răuţă addressed that subject during an official visit to Israel (March
19-29, 1967). The Deputy Foreign Minister received the following response on
that occasion: “The Israeli delegation has shown that it is not ready to
participate in cooperation at the moment by building hotels with the payment of
foreign exchange earnings from their operation. However, they showed interest
in a cooperation in the field of tourism by promoting tourist exchanges between
the two countries, as well as for directing groups of tourists visiting Israel
to Romania. In order to support such actions, the Israeli side proposed that
the competent authorities in Romania consider the possibility of concluding an
agreement on the establishment of direct flights between the two countries. For
this purpose, a representative of the Israeli Airline expressed his willingness
to come to Bucharest during April of that year.
After returning to the
country, Vasile Răuţă proposed on April 3, 1967, and the politicians in
Bucharest approved the next day that the representatives of the National
Tourism Office, together with those of the Ministry of Air and Naval Transport,
discussed with the Israeli side about tourism cooperation. and on the
possibility of concluding an "Agreement on the creation of a Bucharest -
Tel-Aviv direct air line".
As a result, on December 19, 1967, a
Romanian-Israeli air agreement was concluded in Tel Aviv. According to that
act, the "El-Al" company had the opportunity to use the following air
route: "Tel Aviv, via intermediate points, to Bucharest and Constanta and
further to Europe and the Americas, in both directions."
The Israeli proposal of March 1967
can be understood in the context in which, in 1965, the works of transformation
into a civilian objective of the Otopeni military airport had begun. Its
general draft situation was elaborated by the French company "Aéroport de
Paris", after the prior issuance of the Order of the Council of Ministers
no. 105/1965. The provisions of that project were in accordance with the rules
established by the International Civil Aviation Organization regarding air
transport and flight security facilities, and the communist authorities in
Bucharest had to apply them precisely because Romania became a member of that
organization in 1965.
In parallel, the Romanian Ministry
of Transport and Telecommunications had been working since 1965 on the overall
project for the first stage of development of the Bucharest-Otopeni
International Airport, based on the technical-economic study prepared in the
previous year.
The Israeli authorities were
interested in March 1967 for their own airline "El-Al" to use Otopeni
Airport since 1970 because, at the beginning of its entry into operation, the
Romanian authorities had to charge lower operating fees at the airport. and
traffic in the country's airspace. In this way, customers could be attracted
and the expenses incurred during 1965-1970 for the civil arrangement of the
airport were thus covered within the established term.
In the 1965 project, the communist authorities in
Romania considered that 110 million lei were enough for the first stage of the
works to arrange the Otopeni airport, and the deadline for commissioning at
that stage was December 31, 1966. After the start of the works, it was found
that it was necessary to modify the project, supplement the necessary funds in
the first stage by 60 million lei (54.5% more than the initially planned
expenses) and establish a new deadline for the completion of the works in the
first stage of airport development (June 30 1968).
The involvement of the architects Cezar Lăzărescu, G.
Cristea and D. Gheorghiu in the design and construction of the airport, during
1968-1970, allowed Otopeni Airport to comply with the standards of operational
safety, economic efficiency and comfort of that period. Unfortunately, the
delays registered in the first stage of its arrangement were not recovered and
determined the postponement until April 8, 1970 of its official inauguration by
Nicolae Ceauşescu, Ion Gheorghe Maurer and Emil Bodnăraş. [4]
For the development of
international tourism, during the '70s, the Socialist Republic of Romania
developed a series of collaboration agreements with the countries of the
socialist bloc, but also with other countries, both in Europe and outside this
space. Among these let me mention:
·
Convention between the Government of the
Socialist Republic of Romania and the Government of the Federal Socialist
Republic of Yugoslavia, concluded in Bucharest on July 21, 1969, from "the
desire to provide the peoples of the two countries the best conditions to know
the achievements of socialist construction, historical, cultural and natural
monuments in the two countries "
·
Agreement on mutual cooperation in the field of
tourism in the Balkan region, concluded on 13 May 1971 in Bucharest. on the
occasion of the Fourth Conference of Official Tourism Bodies of the Balkan
Countries, which brought together representatives of the Governments of the
People's Republic of Bulgaria, Greece, the Socialist Republic of Romania, the
Republic of Turkey and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. between
them and attracting tourists from third countries ", stating that"
the government of any Balkan state which has not signed this Agreement will be
able to accede to it 30 days after the entry into force of the Agreement
".
·
June 16, 1972, the Treaty of Cooperation in the
Field of Tourism with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (a continuation
of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed on July
7, 1970), tourism being one of the factors deepening friendships and better
knowledge of life the peoples of the two states "
·
12 July 1972, Convention concerning Cooperation
in the Field of Tourism with the German Democratic Republic, registered at the
Secretariat of the United Nations, in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations, (previously concluded on 12 May 1972, a Treaty
of Friendship, Cooperation and mutual assistance between the two countries), to
"further develop and strengthen brotherly friendships."
·
The agreement concluded with the People's
Republic of Poland, in Bucharest on October 20, 1972, in order "to
continuously strengthen the friendship and collaboration between the Romanian
and Polish people and to contribute to creating the best conditions for knowing
the achievements of socialist construction, historical and cultural monuments.
and natural from the two countries”. For the first time, this Agreement, unlike
those mentioned above, was also meant to "encourage and facilitate the
development of unorganized individual tourism".
[1]
https://amintiridincomunism.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/istoria-oficiului-national-de-turism-ont/
[3]
Planuri pentru atragerea de turişti
străini în staţiunile din România şi problemele din sistemul medical românesc
(1966-1977), Petre Opris, Contributors .ro
[4]
Planuri pentru atragerea de turişti
străini în staţiunile din România şi problemele din sistemul medical românesc
(1966-1977), Petre Opris, Contributors .ro
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