PRESS RELEASE: Romania has the opportunity to align with new global trends in tourism through functional OMDs, professional promotion and public-private partnership
- The MDGs represent the essential tools for building a unitary policy to promote Romania, based on institutional coherence, efficient allocation of resources, medium and long-term strategy and transparent performance monitoring mechanisms.
- Romania has the real opportunity to capitalize on the current dynamics of global tourism, increasingly oriented towards authentic experiences, emotion, less crowded destinations and areas with a distinct identity, diverse heritage, and unique cultural and natural resources.
Romania has all the resources to become a top European tourist destination, and the current global context is more favorable than ever. According to the Romanian Hotel Industry Federation (FIHR), international tourism trends indicate a clear paradigm shift: tourists are looking for authentic experiences, less crowded destinations, real human connections, wellness, sustainability and a sense of belonging to a place. Romania naturally responds to these expectations, but to transform the potential into concrete results, a coherent, professional and sustained strategy is needed in the medium and long term.
Global tourism analyses for 2026 show that the future of the industry will be defined by personalized experiences, meaningful travel, the integration of local culture, the balance between technology and people, and a real commitment to sustainability. More and more tourists are choosing destinations that offer authenticity, emotion, and a positive impact on local communities. Romania has exactly these assets: living cultural heritage, diverse nature, unique spa resources at a European level, local gastronomy, and recognized hospitality.
However, FIHR draws attention to the fact that the lack of a coherent national structure for destination promotion and management limits Romania's ability to compete effectively on the European market. Currently, external promotion is carried out in a fragmented manner, mainly through the efforts of employer organizations, NGOs and private operators, while neighboring states are strategically investing in country branding, integrated marketing and professional tourism governance.
In this context, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) – at national and local level – represent the key instrument for aligning Romania with European standards and new global trends. DMOs, led by professional governance, can become the platform through which Romania builds a coherent, constant and well-funded promotion, based on real data, clear objectives and performance monitoring.
The experience of other European countries confirms this model. Spain, through its Sustainable Tourism Strategy 2030, has strengthened the role of regional OMDs, provided multi-annual funding for promotion and diversified tourism products, reducing seasonality. Albania, one of the fastest growing destinations in Europe for incoming tourism, has demonstrated that a clear strategy, supported by functional structures and public-private partnerships, can generate rapid results even with limited resources. Examples such as Turin, Tallinn or Helsinki show that cultural, sustainable and well-managed tourism can become a real engine of economic development.
For Romania, the operationalization of the National OMD would allow connecting spa, cultural and natural destinations into a coherent offer, developing thematic routes and experience products, attracting tourists interested in wellness, slow travel and cultural tourism, as well as involving the diaspora and the business environment from source markets (Germany, UK, Israel, Italy, Spain, etc.). At the same time, it would create the necessary framework for promoting Romania as a lesser-known destination, in line with the global trend of dispersing tourist flows and avoiding overcrowding.
An important step in this direction is the initiative to establish OMD Bucharest, actively supported by FIHR and other representative tourism organizations, in dialogue with the Bucharest City Hall. The capital has the potential to become a competitive urban hub in Central and Eastern Europe, with a clear tourism identity, anchored in culture, gastronomy, events, festivals and lifestyle.
In parallel, the success of this transformation depends on complementary public policies:
- legislative and fiscal predictability,
- digitalization of tourist records,
- supporting hotel investments,
- improving connectivity and infrastructure,
- simplifying visa procedures for relevant markets (e.g. China and UAE) and
- combating unfair competition.
These elements create the framework of stability necessary for private investments and efforts to promote domestic tourism to generate long-term value.
FIHR actively promoted this vision in 2025 through active involvement in the consultative dialogue with MEDAT (the line ministry), as well as within the 7 international tourism fairs it participated in, under the concept "Romania – Trending, Vibrant & Authentic", highlighting the complementarity of Romanian resources and their alignment with the new requirements of global demand. The feedback received from tour operators, investors and international journalists confirms the increased interest in Romania as an authentic destination, still insufficiently explored, but with a major potential for differentiation.
Official data supports this evolution: in the first ten months of 2025, foreign tourist overnight stays increased by approximately 71% compared to the previous year, and the Romanian hotel market has 70 new projects in the pipeline, which will add almost 9,000 rooms in the next five years. These figures reflect both tourist interest and Romania's existing potential.
"Romania is in a favorable moment, in which global trends work in our favor. What is missing is the coherence of action. We need a unitary strategy, functional MDGs and a real partnership between authorities and industry. Tourism is not just an economic sector, but Romania's calling card and a major instrument of regional development", declares Simona Constantinescu, president of FIHR.
FIHR launches an appeal to central and local authorities to treat tourism as a national strategic priority and to build, together with the private sector, a coherent and credible story about Romania.
"It is time for the tourist destination Romania to be supported in unison – by authorities, industry and fellow citizens. Only in this way can we transform the potential into a strong brand, capable of generating economic value, regional development and a solid image internationally." declared Simona Constantinescu, president of the Romanian Hotel Industry Federation.
About FIHR
The Romanian Hotel Industry Federation (FIHR) is the first employers' organization in Romanian tourism, being present at national level in 28 counties and cumulating over 18,300 rooms in member hotel properties, representing the interests of the Romanian hotel industry for the last 35 years, through permanent dialogue with the authorities and the media, as well as with other associative entities at national and European level. FIHR is a member of the Tourism Advisory Council, the Tourism Alliance and the Concordia Employers' Confederation. It is affiliated with HOTREC at European level, an organization that represents the voice of hospitality in Europe. www.fihr.ro
