Travel agencies will no longer be able to sell tourism packages more than 12 months before the date of departure, tourism minister Mircea Titus Dobre said yesterday.

The Government will impose the prohibition via an amendment to an older emergency ordinance.

This decision comes as a reaction to the latest scandal in the tourism sector. Dozens of Romanian tourists who purchased holidays through local travel agency Omnia Turism remained blocked in foreign countries after the agency’s owner had committed suicide. The agency’s accounts have been blocked but they are almost empty and the tourism minister said that this may be the biggest damage in tourism since 1990. Thousands of clients have lost the money paid for future holidays, some EUR 7.4 million in total.

Omnia Turism sold in March holiday packages for November next year, the minister added. Not even airlines have issued a flight plan for that period.

“Early booking and sale of services earlier than 12 months will be banned,” the minister concluded. If companies fail to respect that, they could lose their tourism license.

Travel companies will need to declare their total number of tourists every three months, as well as the total value of touristic packages sold, tourism minister added.

editor@romania-insider.com