Where and how much will Romanians spend for Valentine’s Day?

Rome, Venice, Paris or Barcelona? Or just the Prahova Valley? These are the questions some 30,000 Romanians ask themselves when pondering where to celebrate love on Valentine’s Day this year. Tourism officials expect them to spend some EUR 2 million on this celebration. Most Romanians already ended up choosing local destinations to spend the February 13-15 weekend – they have already made 28,500 reservations for local destinations. The occupancy rate at hotels and pensions in Prahova Valley already reached 90% for the February 14 weekend, up from 60-70% this weekend. Tourists will also enjoy some snow on that weekend –it already started snowing agains across most of Romania. Only 500 people will get to spend the mini holiday abroad, with the four European cities among preferred places, according to the Romanian Tourism Employers Federation and to Vola.ro booking website. Many of those who did not plan anything special abroad or far from home for Valentine’s Day will most likely go clubbing or to a restaurant. Another favorite love celebration in Romania is the traditional Dragobete – the local alternative to the Western imported Valentine’s Day – that Romanians celebrate on February 24. This will also give a boost to local tourism services consumption although it is a working day, unlike February 14, which is a Saturday. editor@romania-insider.com