Javier Garcia del Valle, the general manager of tourism agency Happy Tour, said that the major protests that shook Romania in the first part of the year haven’t helped the country at all, but rather the way the events were presented abroad has affected the country's image, which had improved considerably in recent years, reports local News.ro.

The manager referred to the protests that took place after the Government approved a bill which aimed to decriminalize in part some corruption deeds.

“Perception from abroad was different than the one in the country,” he said. “I was called from Spain, the UK, Czech Republic, people were asking what was happening in Romania. It’s not about how many tourists Romania lost (...) but about how the issue has been perceived by foreigners.”

He added that Romania has fought a lot with the image of a corrupt country in the last years, which has improved. The Happy Tour representative said that Romania has more sights than any other country he visited.

Happy Tour Group recorded sales of almost EUR 50 million in 2016, up 10% over 2015. The growth was related to the advance in business travel, as well as the increase in domestic tourism. The company opened an office in Istanbul last year, the third one after Bucharest and Sofia.

The Happy Tour agency is owned by the investment fund GED Capital and is part of Happy Tour Group, the largest tourism operator in Romania. It has a network of 83 agencies and 94 selling points in 52 cities in Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Moldova.

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editor@romania-insider.com