Charter flights to Romania to bring more Israeli tourists to Bucharest and Constanta this year

Israeli tourists will be able to come to Romania with charter flights starting this summer, both to the seaside city Constanta, and to the Romanian capital, Mirela Matichescu, vice-president of the National Tourism Authority ANT, told news agency Mediafax. The first charter with Israeli tourists will arrive at Kogalniceanu airport in Constanta on June 9, while the last one is scheduled for September. “We have been trying to bring Israeli tourists to the seaside since 2009, but no one supported us with the promotion. Meanwhile, 12 charters from Tel Aviv arrive every week, during season, on the Bulgarian coast,” said Meidan Butnaru, commercial director of Israeli tour operator Meshek INGS, quoted by Mediafax. The charter will arrive once a week in Constanta, and the aircrafts will belong to Blue Air. According to Marius Usturoiu, owner of Mareea trave; agency, the average package paid by an Israeli tourist for a holiday at the beach, including flights and accommodation for a week, amounts to EUR 550. According to estimations made by the representative of the Israeli tour operator, the charters will bring over 2,000 tourists to the Romanian seaside. Last year, according to the National Statistics Institute, 484 tourists from Israel went to the Romanian coast. Another three charter flights on the route Tel Aviv - Bucharest will be operated every week starting May 6. The packages for Bucharest are for three days, and the tour operator has already signed contracts with hotels in the Romanian capital for 3,500 tourists, reports Mediafax. “Starting this summer, the Tourism Authority will start the promotion on the Israeli market. We expect this year a 70 percent increase in the number of tourists from Israel, and we speak about tourists that come for holidays, not to those who come for business or to see relatives,” said Mirela Matichescu. According to data from INS, the 1.7 million foreign tourists who came to Romania last year spent about EUR 1 billion in the country, most of which was for accommodation. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)