January 12 (SeeNews) - Moldova's tourism promotion federation, FPTM, said it has asked the Romanian authorities to ease border control procedures for tourists after statistics showed a 30% drop in the number of Moldavian holidaymakers in Romania during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
"In the last three years, Moldavian tourists have been complaining to travel agencies about delays of coach buses at the Romanian border, both at the entry and exit," FPTM president Alexandru Filipschi said in a joint statement of the Moldovan federation and its Romanian peer, FACT. "It is unacceptable that tourists are seen as potential criminals and asked to get off the buses to pass through body and baggage checks," he added.
Coaches spend four to eight hours waiting for a check of the tourists' travel documents, and yet this whole process can be much quicker and easier, FACT president Corina Martin said in the statement, adding that
According to data of the two federations, 11,000 Moldavan tourists visited Romania during the Christmas and New Year holidays, spending some 3.2 million euro ($3.48 million) in total. Moldovans celebrate Christmas on January 7.
FACT and FPTM bring together the biggest travel operators in both countries.
($=0.918 euro)