Tourism in Moldova

First of all, I want to begin with introduction to tourism sector in

Republic of Moldova. Regardless, the tourism industry is extremely
fragmented, made up of small and large businesses both from the public and
private sectors. Today the tourism contribution to the national economy is
relatively insignificant. In my opinion, the industry needs co-ordination,
investment, training and marketing, which entail co-operation between
government, local authorities and communities.

#1 Creating a Tourism Marketing Plan for Your Destination

In general, a tourism marketing plan is used to promote a destination. It

creates a customized action statement that everyone can follow. The process of
writing a tourism marketing plan involves serious research and detailed
information. This powerful business tool identifies the deficiencies in the
Republic of Moldova's tourism offer and the strategic directions necessary for
organizations to take action in order for the objectives to be met.

Firstly, every tourism marketing plan must begin with the objectives,
because you need to understand what results you want. I underlined 8 main
objectives of tourism in my country.

1. To promote internationally Republic of Moldova as an accessible and

affordable destination.
2. In order to bring cultural and socio-economic benefits to the country and
its communities, to develop tourism in an integrated and balanced
manner.
3. To ensure that tourism is developed in a sustainable manner so that the
heritage will be protected.
4. To recognize the priority of tourism for the national economy. For
example: it can be a good generator for increasing number of jobs.
 5. To preserve the country's major heritage and environmental attractions
and make them known and accessible to visitors.
6. To offer high quality products and services to visitors.
7. To give a warm welcome to tourists. For example: providing necessary
information or to assist in their orientation and appreciation of the
destination.
8. To maintain the Tourism Development Agency as an efficient and
effective national tourism organization, for regulating and marketing the
tourism products of Moldova.

An analysis of the marketing environment in the international tourism

market is needed to establish these objectives in a measurable approach so as
to execute a clear and cohesive marketing strategy. The marketing
environment can be examined with SWOT analysis.

1. Good geographical location 1. Weak civil institutions

WEAKNESSES
STRENGHTS

2. Relative positive image in UE (state institutions, local public

3. Visa-free travel administration)
4. Multilingual people (Russian, 2. Corruption
Romanian, Ukrainian) 3. Low GPD
5. In the last years, state invested 4. Labor migration
in reconstruction of old buildings 5. Bad transportation system
OPPORTUNITIES

1. EU Membership 1. Misunderstandings with

THREATS

2. Positive effects after latest Russia

reforms 2. Separation with
3. Good relationships with Transnistria and Gagauzia
another Non- and EU countries.
4. UE finances many tourism
projects
 By focusing on strengths, Republic of Moldova therefore has the
opportunity to become an attractive destination worldwide. It is a source of rich
history and beautiful heritage. For example, many tourism agencies are making
tourism to unknown places, in the deep of the nature, to show to visitors how
green is Moldova. The target audience includes everyone, beginning with
families and ending with solo travels. Speaking about expenses, travelling in
Republic of Moldova is very cheap in comparison with another countries. For
example, cost of living in Moldova is 2.92% lower than in Turkey.
For this tourism research I found some strategic directions that Moldova are
following. For the strategic direction Rural Tourism was elaborated and
approved the National Program “Moldovan Village”, it presents a superior
political framework for rural sustainable development in Republic of Moldova
for 2005-2015 years. An objective of this program is
rural tourism development. It is very important to attract attention to places
where modernization didn’t come, yet. Because only in these areas the
Moldovan culture is alive. In the area of Education and Training strategic
direction was created National Tourism Training Centre which provides
training and continuing professional development in the field of tourism. The
formation and training of tourism industry personal is essential
in raising the quality of tourist products. In my opinion, this point helps to
achieve one of our objectives which is to give a warm welcome to tourists. I
found this very important because if we don’t have suitable behavior with our
guests, we will lose. Since, our nowadays visitors are the best advertising for
our future ones.
Moldova has nearly 112,000 hectares of vines used for wine production.
Would you believe that over 70 million bottles of wine are exported from
Moldova each year, and that number continues to grow? Wine is an important
part in Moldova, which be known international. In the area of wine tourism
there was elaborated the National Program in tourism
“The Wine Road in Moldova”, which aim is to encourage the development of
wine tourism and its integration in the international network of wine tourism.
The wine industry and the tourism industry contribute to the attraction of a large
number of consumers of wine tourist products, additionally popularizing all
touristic facilities in Moldova.
The issue of biodiversity, environmental protection is given very little attention
in the strategy.
In order to develop the tourism industry in the Republic of Moldova
further it is necessary to establish and maintain effective strategy marketing
plan.

#3 Create an Amazing Guide About Your

Area
Tiny land-locked Moldova is gloriously untouristy. Fields of nodding
sunflowers and friendly people greet you as you arrive in Moldova: one of
Europe’s least-known country, that are ready to discover.
Tree-lined Chisinau is one of Eastern Europe’s wildest party capitals where
you’ll never be far from a glass of excellent Moldovan wine.

“Locals Only” If you want to feel a flashback to Soviet-style communism, you

should go to the east of Chisinau. There you will find a self-declared republic of
Transnistria which has its own currency, police force, army and independence
day.

Capital of Moldova: Chisinau

Population of Moldova: 4.4 million
Languages in Moldova: Romanian & Russian
Time in Moldova: GMT+2
International dialling code in Moldova: +373
Money in Moldova: Leu (MDL). Travellers cheques and credit cards are rarely
accepted.

Must-haves to go:
 Take a day trip to the breakaway region of Transnistria.
 Visit the cave monasteries at Orheiul Vechi, and make friends with the
resident monks. Orheiul Vechi can be reached by public transport but it's
better to organise a guide to interpret.
 Gulp down refreshing dry white sauvignons and full-bodied reds at
Cricova’s underground wine cellars.
 People-watch from the cool cafes of capital Chisinau.

Quick advise:
 Few Moldovans speak English so a few words of Romanian or Russian
will go a long way.
 Credit cards aren’t accepted everywhere but many places will accept US
dollars, especially in the breakaway Transnistrian Republic.
 Moldova is flat which makes for easy cycling, despite the condition of
some of the roads.
 Inside Chisinau trolleybus rides or taxis are inexpensive.
 Accommodation is limited in Moldova. Chisinau has a decent range of
hotels but outside the city hotels tend to be soviet-style and gloomy.
You’ll need your passport to check in.

“Locals Only” : Call taxis rather than waiting at official stands if possible as
it’s much cheaper.

Moldova food & drink

Moldovan food comes in big hearty portions. Influenced by Russia and Turkey,
you’ll find plenty of grilled meat served with pickled fruit or vegetables.
Specialities include tocana (a garlicky sweet and sour pork stew) and mamaliga
(similar to polenta and usually served with cheese). Vegetarians will have a
hard time.
Health & safety in Moldova
Petty theft can be a problem but it’s no worse than in most European countries.

#6 Use a Challenge to Spark Interest in a

Destination
Everybody loves challenges. They become well-loved and popular in online
world. Nowadays is very easy to promote your product\place\service if you put
in application a good challenge. In my opinion, tourism in Moldova needs more
challenges. In the following I will present my ideas:

 Challenge people to find how many as possible unknown, beautiful spots

in the middle of the nature.

 Challenge people to post a photo per day with their favorite place in
Moldova, during a week.

 Challenge people to adopt in their family a tourist, to show him our

traditions, our culture.

 Also, you can challenge your friends\followers to invent a slogan\symbol

or even a map about all must-haves to visit.

 Moreover, they can make a photo with Moldovan Leu or Flag in

foreigners country.
 People love sharing this kind of content and the challenge will benefit you in
promotion.

#7 Gather User-Generated Content and

Promote It
This is sum of point 2 “Drive Exposure with Influencer Programs” and point
6 “Use a Challenge to Spark Interest in a Destination”. So, the most important
tool is social media. User Generated Content is defined as any type of content
that has been created and put out there by unpaid contributors or, using a better
term, fans. It can refer to pictures, videos, testimonials, tweets, blog posts, and
everything in between and is the act of users promoting a brand rather than the
brand itself. To attract new visitors we need to share opinions of our previous
guests. In this way, they will feel more comfortable and open-minded about our
location, Moldova.
For example, many Vloggers that came to Moldova uploaded a video and
automatically produced user-generated content.

As a tourism destination, Republic of Moldova is very little known

abroad. Considerable new ideas are welcome to develop and implement a
destination marketing program that will establish an attractive image of the
Republic of Moldova. In this way, from last year, on Facebook is very
popular a tourism campaign about Moldova. Everyone are posting a photo
with a T-shirt with the image from this country.
To sum up, 92% of people are more likely to trust a recommendation
from another person over branded content. Everyone should think about this
point.

#8 Show Off What Makes You Unique on

Social Media
 Every country has something special that nobody else does. If you
come to Moldova you will have a warm welcome. Moldovan are known as
open-minded and communicable people. More other, here you can discover
what green actually mean. Moldova’s natural resources attract fans of
ecologic tourism into the country. Moldova sees hills as if the masterpiece
created by nature; one may admire springs, rivers, lakes (there are more than
4 thousand), forests, rocks, canyons – all these landscapes of Moldova can
be admired by calling upon tourism agencies which are organizing trekking
and hiking tours, fleeting tours and recreation activities in the open. Most of
the territory (74%) is covered by agricultural landscape (vineyards, orchards,
pastures, grain fields), the forestland counts for 13,7%, and wetlands form
around 3% .

Decades ago, Moldova was known within the Soviet Union for making
that country’s best wine. Moldova’s wine attractions run deeper (in this case,
much deeper) than mere vineyards. Some of the largest wineries have
extensive underground storage cellars that stretch on for hundreds of
kilometres. Even if you haven’t got the slightest interest in wine, these
labyrinthine cellars, carved in limestone, are fascinating to explore. For
instance, the cellars at the Cricova winery, 15km north of Chişinău, are the
best known (but incredibly, at 120km, not the longest). Some 60km of the
tunnels, which date from the 15th century, are lined wall-to-wall with
bottles. Republic of Moldova can be successful in tourism by creating new
products within the following forms of tourism, which are considered as
priority: Rural tourism; Ecotourism; Wine tourism; Beauty and health
tourism; Cultural tourism; Business tourism.

#9 Focus Your Marketing by Traveler Type

Obviously, every advertising campaign must to based on a solid
approach. If you don’t focus your approach, your efforts will get lost in the
 ether amongst the droves of competition in your highly competitive industry.
Tourism Marketing Plan in Moldova is based on everyone, because each
visitor can find something interesting here. Couples can visit our wineries,
families can take a tour to our forests and zoos or seniors can visit old
churches and castles. We don’t have a limitation for our tourists. We
welcome everyone.

#10 Make the Most of Mobile

Nowadays, everyone is on the phone. Seventy-five percent of millennials
would rather text than call, and spend more time on their phones than all other
devices combined. They also travel more frequently than any other generation.
So, we need to use this opportunity to promote all we have.

Make the most of mobile tourism marketing by getting on the level of the
majority of mobile users. Pictures tell a story faster, so creating an Instagram
account and posting is a good idea. So, we did it. For promotion, Moldova we
have more 5 Instagram accounts. There we are showing a unique view of your
wonderful country. Also we are posting videos to create a visual tour of our
favorite and most incredible places here. Also, we have Facebook page that is
showing our story regulary, receiving many positive feedback.

#11 Highlight What’s New in Your Area

In a view of successful results of implementing tourism industry with its
all meanings in our country, Moldova begin increase the quality of our services.
Furthermore, we are speaking about renovating new building, roads, open-air
museums,transportation.
Castel Mimi is a unique concept of a wine resort. On more then 200,000
square meters of gardens, squares one can see century old cellars, the Castle
built by the last governor of Bessarabia, Constantin Mimi. Firstly, new thing
about this area of tourism is that the opened an art gallery, hotel, pool, wine
shop and restaurant. This investments were made to attract more tourists.
Moreover, we put in application a new method of advertising, organizing all
sorts of festivals. For example, in September we have Darwin Color Fest, in
August we have Medieval Festival, in June in have Kids Festival, in October we
organize Wine Festival, in February we have folk music Festival.

Annexes