Traian Basescu asked for a fair quality- price ratio in tourism

President Traian Basescu complained Monday to the Tourism Advisory Council, in Neptun, about the lack of qualified personnel in tourism and said that there should be a fair quality- price ratio, considering that Romania should be redefined as a tourist destination.

"Romania is no longer known in the world as a tourist destination. It is known as a country that distributes crime to Italy, a country that has exported over three million Romanian to work abroad, and as a country that does not capitalise European resources effectively," said Basescu, adding that Romanians are better known abroad "through Mailat" (ed.n. - Nicolae Romulus Mailat, the Romanian sentenced to life imprisonment for qualified murder, robbery and sexual aggression, after the death of an Italian woman assaulted in 2007 in Rome) and that should that brand of country to be brought to the attention of the Europeans.

Basescu said that the infrastructure is not at a very good level, but mentioned that this was not the main reason why tourism is not a higher level in Romania, citing the example of Greece, which, although has not a "successful" infrastructure, has a developed tourism.
Another problem identified by the Head of State was a quality of services in relation to prices. The Head of State said that a tourist who goes on holiday abroad at prices comparable to those in the country, but with service of better quality, would not spend holidays in Romania any more.

"A tourist who goes to the Mediterranean and finds good quality services at prices comparable to ours is not coming back. A lost tourist is a lost tourist . It's hard to bring him back", said Basescu.

The Head of State criticised the way in which the authorities in this industry were making the professional reconversion of the staff working in tourism, saying that "one can arrange to receive a waiter's certificate without taking courses" and insisted that the specialists in the tourism area engage more in qualifying the potential future employees.

"There are 3.2 billion euros, European money meant for professional qualification. Many have received authorisations for retraining, but the established norms are weak and generate the poor quality of qualification," said Basescu.

The Head of State also said that agriculture and tourism are priority areas for Romania, which must be developed, because they can bring jobs and money to the budget, unlike the industries, which nobody knows how long will last.

curierulnational.ro