The changes in the 2015-2016 school year, which the Romanian Education Ministry recently introduced, will cause financial damages both to the Romanian tour operators, as well as to the tourists, according to the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT).

The Ministry has introduced an additional holiday week in January, a new holiday period in February and additional school days in June, without prior consultations with industry representatives.

Tourists have already booked about 10,000 holidays for the winter holiday, based on the former school schedule. Many of these packages can’t be returned, because they were bought at early booking prices.

“The change in the school year structure should be done in a controlled way, including after talks with tourism representatives, because holiday periods are extremely important for all those working in this sector,” said Aurelian Marin, ANAT president.

editor@romania-insider.com