Paralela 45 travel agency schedules €42 mln in turnover

Last year, the agency posted €39 mln in turnover, €11 mln more year-on-year, with 50 percent of its total business coming from package deals, and 25 percent from the sale of airline tickets. According to Alin Burcea, General Manager of Paralela 45, incoming tourists made up 10 percent of total turnover, while outgoing tourists going abroad accounted for 45-50 percent.

The agency operated charters to Costa Brava, Crete, Rhodes, Ibiza, Nice and Antalya, the most popular destinations for Romanian tourists.

By the end of last week, Romanian agencies announced their intention to increase the price of charter flights by 10 percent, saying that the cost of fuel is influencing teh cost of airplane rentals.

Burcea believes that vacation prices will not go up significantly this year. “There will be a 5 percent increase due to the price of fuel, but there will also be lower prices for destinations such as Antalya and Crete, due to the competition,” Burcea said.

J’Info Tours, Happy Tour, Marshal Tourism, and Eximtur are among Paralela 45 competitors. The 10 largest Romanian tourist agencies reported €600 mln in net sales in 2007.