Romania’s Tourism Ministry wants to set up a new institution called the Destination Management Organization (OMD) to promote Romania’s destinations, according to an emergency ordinance drafted by the Ministry, reports local News.ro.

OMD will include both state representatives, as well as hotel and restaurant representatives, who will decide together how to spend the money to promote certain destinations. Until now, city halls or city councils alone have been responsible for these decisions.

A tourist destination can be a city or a village, or a smaller part of these units, according to the emergency ordinance.

Romania’s current governing coalition has taken several controversial measures related to the country’s promotion. At the beginning of May, the coalition decided to shut down Romania’s tourism promotion offices abroad. These were the institutions that promoted the Romanian tourism abroad and attracted foreign tourists to Romania. Tourism association representatives have criticized the move.

editor@romania-insider.com