ROMANIA’S tourism industry remains indebted to Irish writer Bram Stoker who gave the world the legend of Count Dracula. His novel was inspired by the country’s 15th century nobleman, Vlad Dracul, known as Vlad the Impaler by virtue of the bloodthirsty method he used to dispose of hisenemies.
“Dracula is a big selling point – nowhere else but Romania has Dracula,” said Romania Travel Centre managing director James Greig. “Transylvania is a fascinating part of the country, it’s got an atmosphere of mystery and superstition about it, and the Dracula trail makes an excellent product.”
The trail takes in the ruins of Dracula’s palace in Bucharest, the monastery of Snagov where Vlad Dracula is buried and the Gothic Bran Castle, used as a backdrop for many Dracula movies.
There are several tours on the market. Romania Travel Centre offers a four-night Dracula tour from ú299, which includes flights and half-board overnights in Bucharest and Predeal, in the Carpathian Mountains.
Sunworld offers a 14-night Dracula To The Danube tour, combining a week in Poiana Brasov in the Carpathians with six nights in Neptun on the Black Sea coast and a night in Bucharest, from ú599.
Balkan Holidays combines the mountains and coast with a Dracula tour. The operator’s 14-night package includes six nights at Albena or Golden Sands on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and costs from ú559.
Specialist Fregata is looking to introduce a tour in its 2000 programme, with overnight stays in the castle. “For next year, I’m trying to find out if people can spend the night inside the castle,” said product manager Jeremy Anderson.
With the second World Dracula Congress set for Poiana Brasov, from May 25-28, 2000, the Romanian Tourism Promotion Office accepts there is capital to be made from the vampire legend.
“Romania is perceived in the UK as a remote destination and if curiosity about Dracula encourages people to think about the country, so much the better,” said UK director Maria Iordache. Iordache has a ú225,000 marketing budget for 1999 that includes funding to promote less-visited parts of the country like Bukovina, famous for its medieval monasteries, and Maramures, renowned for its wooden churches.
“We’re planning an autumn advertising campaign for skiing and Transylvanian cultural tours,” she said. “We also plan to organise agent fam trips later this year to the Black Sea coast and for skiing.”
n Visitor numbers from the UK to Romania dipped to around 54,000 last year – short of the 60,000 who snapped up cheap Black Sea packages and 40,000 who bought ski holidays each year in the 1970s.