The season of cruise ships in the Delta started. « There are fearful people »
The first river cruise ship with tourists from Western Europe has arrived this week in the port of Tulcea, the nearly 170 guests from abroad already visiting the monasteries in the terrace area of the county, but also the Danube Delta, the Ukraine War modifying the program of the trips offered by the trips.
The ‘Nestroy’ ship, under the Pavilion Switzerland, landed in Tulcea on Friday and will leave next week from the county, after some travelers will return to Bucharest to see the Parliament Palace and to embark on the planes with which they will return home, and other tourists, who have already visited the capital of Romania The monasteries in the county terrace area.
‘The shipowner is a brave one who wanted, despite the complicated situation in the area, to reach Tulcea. This implies a logistical effort, but despite this weight, we managed to find a solution for the ship to land in Tulcea and offer tourist programs near the city of Tulcea and at Sfântu Gheorghe. Delta is a unique program, a purpose of the entire cruise. There are ships that go especially to the zero kilometer (the Danube Point in the Black Sea, on the Sfântu Gheorghe – no) Arm for that moment when a return maneuver is made and the tourists enjoy that moment. It is a target for tourists who arrive on cruise ships, « said the manager of one of the largest tour-operators in Romania, Leontin Șerbănescu.
The Ukraine war has modified the programs of the river cruise ships, in recent years the shipowners bypassing the lands in Tulcea county in favor of those in Brăila county. Thus, the tourists from the ships that land in the port of Braila arrive in Tulcea with coaches, to visit the Delta later.
‘For Dobrogea, we have about 250 ships that should arrive this year in the Tulcea-Brăila area. Due to the current situation, the ships will not be able to land in Tulcea and then we have to propose to the surveners in Braila, as a reserve variant. It is the best possible variant, so that we do not affect the tourist programs and to offer the passengers exactly what they bought, « said the manager Șerbănescu.
The transit of tourists through the Măcin Mountains is an opportunity for the oldest mountains in Romania, but for imposing a tourist product, such as wine tastings in Dobrogea wineries, it takes several years, according to the same source.
Regarding the incoming tourism in Romania, Leontin Șerbănescu mentioned that the phenomenon is influenced by the situation in Ukraine.
‘At national level, incoming tourism has survived. Now, let’s say we are on an upward trend. Everything is influenced by the situation in Ukraine. There are fearful people about the idea of coming and visiting Romania. As well as I found that there are people who know that Romania is a safe country, that it is a NATO member country and, especially on the cruise ships, people do not have reluctance and feel safe. We try to promote Romania, although it is very complicated during this period, when everyone asks us what is happening on the borders. We have not stopped, we will not stop, but it is difficult to do tourism with foreign citizens under these conditions’, concluded manager Leontin Șerbănescu.
However, the trips offered to tourists do not differ from those from the period before the War of Ukraine.
