Romania's waters and beaches administration received 97 offers to lease some of its Black Sea beaches, with the most sought after being the Mamaia seaside resorts, where 60 offers were submitted for the 23 beach segments. So far, 150,000 sqm of beach have been leased – 34 beach segments. A second stage of the bid will be announced for the areas that have not received any offers so far. A total of 123 interested investors had bought the task books prior to the bid, but 26 of them gave up.

Prices started as low as RON 1.1 per sqm and reached RON 11 per sqm in Mamaia seaside resort, and contracts last for one or two years. All companies are allowed to take part in the bid, irrespective of if they own hotels or tourism facilities or not in the respective area.

Romania has 230 hectares of beaches suitable for tourism. Last year, bidding for beach areas was organized end-April, but authorities chose an earlier start this year with hopes to lease more areas.

Romania's main seaside resorts are Mamaia, Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud, Olimp, Neptun, Jupiter, Saturn, Vama Veche, 2 Mai, Costinesti.

editor@romania-insider.com