BUCHAREST, Romania-
The country's top tourism official resigned Tuesday frustrated that bad roads, untrained staff working in outdated hotels were deterring foreign tourists.
Ovidiu Iuliu Marian, head of the National Tourism Agency handed his resignation to Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu saying he was quitting after an agency study criticized the tourism industry.
He said he was unable to make changes to improve the tourism sector which attracted some 6.6 million visitors and has been in steady decline.
However, Marian's resignation may have been precipitated after he shocked people by using foul language to describe conditions at the Black Sea, particularly high levels of noise at one resort.
The study carried out by the agency concluded that Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland and Slovakia were more attractive destinations for tourists.
It said that room prices were not expensive, but some hotels were run-down.
Disadvantages for foreign tourists visiting Romania's Black Sea coast included a lack of direct flights to Constanta, poor roads, a lack of entertainment facilities and untrained staff, the study said, adding that tourists preferred Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus for beach tourism.
The agency believe tax breaks, better marketing and promotion of what Romania has to offer, and simpler laws that would encourage competition would boost the number of tourists.
