Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ukraine
Bucovina
Maramures
Republic of
Moldova
Vatra Dornei
Hungary
Bistrita
Baile Felix
Cluj-Napoca
Sovata
Sighisoara
Sibiu
Brasov
Poiana Brasov
Calimanesti
Baile Govora
Sinaia
Seminic
Danube
Delta
Baile Herculane
Serbia
Black Sea
Wallachia
Mamaia
Constanta
Eforie Nord
Costinesti
Mangalia
Bucharest
Key
Carpathian Mountains
Cities/towns of Saxon origin
Coastal resorts
Principal spa resorts
Principal winter sports resorts
0
Bulgaria
50
100
N
kil
ometr
es
Fig. 20.1.
Romania: location map of major tourist resources and regions. This map includes data
provided by the MapInfo Corporation from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA).
identity for Romania (Fig. 20.1). In particular, it
examines the efforts to draw a line under the
tyranny of Nicolae Ceau
s
escu's regime (and the
political and economic instability that followed
his downfall) and to reposition Romania in the
Western popular imagination as a potential future
member of the EU. The chapter begins with an
overview of tourism development in Romania in
recent decades. It then considers Romania's often
ambivalent relationship with Europe. The final
section presents an analysis of tourist promotional
materials produced by the Romanian Ministry of
Tourism in the 1990s. It considers what these
materials tell us, both about the kind of country
Romania imagines itself to be, and the way in
which it wants to be understood by the West.
and, like many of the other socialist countries of
Central and Eastern Europe, the need to generate
hard currency to fund imports was paramount
(see Hall, 1991). However, in Romania, the
enthusiasm for international tourism was also a
component of the country's efforts to assert its
independence from the Soviet Union (a policy
developed during the early 1960s and pursued
with vigour by Nicolae Ceau
s
escu after 1965).
Considerable investment in tourism was under-
taken, particularly during the periods of the
1966-1970 and 1971-1975 Five Year Plans
(see Turnock, 1977). These efforts were ini-
tially successful: the number of foreign visitors
rose from 676,000 in 1965 to 2.2m in 1970 and
to 7m in 1981 (Gavrilescu, 1973; CNS, 1995).
The majority of international tourists visiting
Romania were from the other socialist countries
of Central/Eastern Europe (particularly Poland
and Czechoslovakia) or the Soviet Union, but
nevertheless, in 1975 Romania received over
630,000 visitors from non-socialist countries.
1
Romanian Tourism in Context
Romania started to promote itself for inter-
national tourism during the 1960s and 1970s
