Tourism Minister cancels Romania's Munich Fair attendance without notice, triggers losses to participating travel agencies

Romania's Tourism and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Maria Grapini (in picture) canceled the country's participation in the Munich tourism fair which started on Wednesday. The minister canceled the attendance to the fair just two days before the fair had started, and hotel owners and travel agency representatives are now blaming her for their losses, as they had already paid for plane tickets and hotel rooms. “Just hours before we found out that Romania will not be present at the Munich tourism fair, an event which had been approved and announced by the ministry, as we had already been informed by the ministry itself,” reads a letter sent by the Association of Travel Agencies ANAT to Maria Grapini. ANAT representatives say they have been facing complaints from their members who spent significant amounts in accommodation and flights, who had established important meetings at the fair and who had spent money on promotional materials for this event, which would have benefited Romania as well. “It is difficult to understand why the modified list of tourism fairs excluding the Munich event was not sent in time to ANAT as well,” the ANAT letter went on. The Minister said that the direction tasked with this fair could not show the efficiency of attending the 2012 edition, and that any event financed by the budget should have previously proven efficiency and must be requested by an important number of companies, according to Mediafax newswire. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)