Rural tourism in Maramures affected by the war in Ukraine / Hardly any guesthouses booked for Easter

Agritourism in Maramureș county is affected by the state of war in Ukraine, with Romanian tourists avoiding booking their Easter holidays, the owner of a guesthouse in the Ocna Șugatag spa resort near the Gutâi Mountains told Agerpres on Wednesday.

„Every day, tourists from different parts of the country call, asking about accommodation, meals, and other services, but inevitably they are interested in the distance between the locality and the war zones in Ukraine. I tell them that the distance between Ocna Shugatag and the nearest place in Ukraine where fighting has taken place is over 300-400 kilometers and there is no risk in terms of accommodation or travel here. They are quite distrustful and give up for fear of unpleasant situations that they think might occur.

„We are thinking of launching a public campaign on the social networks in the next few days to explain that Maramures county is a safe destination for Easter tourism, we have already discussed this with other guesthouse owners because in Ocna Șugatag there are more than 40 tourist inns. If in the two years of the pandemic we operated at the limit, the war in the neighboring country seems to be much more severe for us on the economic side and has changed the behavior of tourists”, said the owner of the guesthouse, Vasile Pop.

He said that owners of guesthouses in Ocna Șugatag, the country’s renowned spa resort, have kept the prices unchanged, although energy costs have gone up.

„There has been no change in the prices for accommodation, meals or other services included, we are going on the same prices as last year. We are trying to maintain a balance, but that’s not certain for long. With the price of electricity, gas, wood, and fuel, all direct and indirect costs have gone up. We are trying as much as possible to stay in a point of balance on these costs, but unfortunately, all the increases I mentioned will affect rural and national tourism,” said Vasile Pop.

According to him, almost no rural guesthouses in Maramureș county have reservations for the Easter holidays.

In Maramures county, there are more than 500 tourist guesthouses, hotels, and motels in both the mountains and the lowlands.

Edited for English by Ovidiu H.