Romanian Bega group, owned by local businessmen Marius and Emil Cristescu, recently inaugurated one of the largest adventure parks in Romania, which is part of leisure complex Arsenal Park in Orastie.

The total investment for the setup of the adventure park as well as for a children’s playground was EUR 680,000 and is part of a larger EUR 6 million project which is currently underway, which also includes bike tracks, zip lines, skating rink, skate park, an equestrian center, a SPA center and an aquapark.

The new Aventura Park Arsenal has six climbing trails of various difficulties that go from 3 meters high up to 30 meters high. Safety equipment is mandatory for those who want to climb the trails. The park is open each day between 10:00 and 20:00 and fees range from RON 30 to RON 40 (EUR 6.8-9.1) for three hours of outdoor activities. The playground can take in 300 children at once.

“We expect the climbing trails will attract more than 300 people daily during the weekends, and when we will inaugurate the spa center and the interior and exterior aqua park, probably in June or July next year, we expect another 500 visitors each day only for these objectives,” said Marius Cristescu, the owner of Arsenal Park.

“The big problem for all resorts in Romania is that there’s little to be don there. They don’t offer entertainment options for all members of the family. This is why we preferred to develop the entertainment part first and then develop the accommodation facilities. Arsenal Park will become an amusement park for all those who come to the region, including for other resorts,” Cristescu added.

His development also plans take into consideration the construction of the highway from Bucharest to Nadlac, which passes close to Orastie and should bring more tourists to the area. Cristescu’s EUR 6 million investment in the park, which is half funded with non-refundable EU funds, should be finalized by next year.

“We are now working on the 9 kilometers of bike tracks which should be ready by the end of this year, the skate park and the skating rink will be inaugurated by the end of October and the equestrian center should be opened at the end of November. The zip line will become functional at the beginning of next year, in April we will finalize the gym and the aqua park will be inaugurated in July,” Cristescu said.

Arsenal Park is a leisure complex which can accommodate 200 tourists. It offers various activities, such as military instruction, airsoft and paintball, but also shooting and archery lessons, and all sorts of leisure vehicles (bikes, golf cars, go-kart bikes, Segway and even military vehicles. The park spans on an 88 hectare land and is also an outdoor military museum, featuring cannons, tanks, military trucks, planes and helicopters.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com