305 Million Euros New Year’s Eve

The Romanians started to like spending money on New Year’s Eve. More than 305 million euros have been thrown away for the night between the years, which is approximately 30% more than last year.

The merchants, the tourism operators and the mobile telephony companies are, again, the main winners of the New Year’s Eve Party affair. However, the companies that import fireworks and the gas stations have recorded profit as well. The businessmen estimate an increase of 20% in comparison to the 2005 New Year’s Eve Party, the tourism agencies say they won 13% more for the destinations in the country and 35% more for the ones outside.

TOURISM

More than one hundred thousands Romanians went to the mountains, at the seaside, in the restaurant of a hotel or abroad for the New Year’s Eve Party. The prices have been between 550 and 3,800 RON. The estimations show that the Romanian tourism agencies "swallowed" 30 million euros of what we can call the New Year’s Eve affair, Dragos Raducanu, Secretary General of the Tourism Owners’ Federation, says. 23 million of these went to the banking accounts of the Romanian hotel owners and only 6.5 million euros went abroad.

IN THE MOUNTAINS

The tourists that decided to be up high for their New Year’s Eve Party have assaulted the resorts in the mountains. The Prahova Valley was full in spite of the prices that varied from 575 to 3,027 RON, depending on the comfort, the nights spent there, the menu etc. 28,000 Romanians came to the mountains looking for the clean air and the snow, which kind of didn’t show up.

The rich Romanians went to Poiana Brasov. "There was a luxurious offer for 200 people for 3,600 RON", Dragos Raducanu says. Another 30,000 Romanians went to the bathing resorts and to the seaside. The prices in here have been a little smaller: 120-468 RON.

THE PENSIONS

The pensions have been the favorite destination of the ones that wanted to run from civilization high into the mountains. "More than 10,000 Romanians had a quiet New Year’s Eve Party with traditional meals in regions like Bran-Moeciu, the North of Moldova or Marginimea Sibiului. The prices were between 515 and 1150 RON.

AT THE RESTAURANT

The "lazy" people went to the New Year’s Eve Parties at the restaurants of the hotels close to their homes. But, because they wanted to have a drink or two and didn’t want to hit the road the next day, they also paid for a room at the hotel where they ate. "Approximately 30,000 people spent the night between the years at the hotels in Bucharest or at the ones in their districts", Dragos Raducanu says. He says that the average price of a New Year’s Eve Party was 780 RON in Bucharest and 618 RON for the rest of the country.

ABROAD

More and more Romanians have started to enjoy spending their New Year’s Eve Party abroad. 13,500 Romanians went abroad for that, according to the representatives of the tourism agencies. "We recorded an increase by 35% in the number of tourists that decided to go abroad for the New Year’s Eve Party", Raducanu says. Greece, Malta, Egypt as well as other exotic destinations, like Thailand or Brazil, have been the favorites. The main criterion was the budget. A three-night trip to Greece with the New Year’s Eve menu included cost between 160 and 200 euros. The prices in Thailand started at 1,200 euros. In conclusion, 6.5 million euros went into the budgets of the tourism agencies that organized New Year’s Eve Parties.

Translation by Sorin Balan