Romania’s Tourism Ministry wants to develop a joint tourism promotion project with the Republic of Moldova to draw more foreign tourists from Asia and North America, according to tourism minister Bogdan Trif.

The project is called “The Route of Prince Stephen the Great and Holy in Romania and the Republic of Moldova," local Agerpres reported. The route will include wineries in Romania and Moldova as well as historical landmarks, namely the fortresses built during the reign of Prince Stephen the Great.

The Romanian tourist landmarks to be included in this project are the Putna Monastery, the Palace of Culture in Iasi and the Princely Fortress of Suceava. Moldova will include in this route its fortresses at Soroca, Bender and Odorheiul Vechi and the wineries in their vicinity, according to Stanislav Rusu, the director of Moldova’s National Tourism Agency.

The two countries also plan to develop other joint projects such as the Wine Road, the Monasteries Road and the Fortresses Road, to go after foreign tourists in Asia and America.

Moldova welcomed about 4 million foreign tourists in 2017, 55% of whom were Romanians, according to Stanislav Rusu. Meanwhile, some 12.7 million foreigners crossed Romania’s borders in 2017, but the number of tourists who checked into local hotels was about 2.75 million, according to the National Statistics Institute’s data.

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