The tourism sector in Romania has a workforce deficit of over 30%, according to tourism minister Bogdan Trif. He thinks this is due to the mirage of high wages abroad.

However, official data from the National Statistics Institute (INS), shows that the hospitality sector pays the lowest average net wage in Romania, of RON 1,554 (EUR 334), without tips. The minister says salaries are so low because 95% of the sector is private, local Hotnews.ro reported.

He said he is trying to update the legislation in the sector and create excellence centers to train tourism personnel.

Bogdan Trif also said the holiday vouchers have helped bring to surface many tourism jobs as guest house owners who were previously operating without licenses filed for licenses so they would comply with the holiday voucher program. Some 1.2 million employees, mostly from the state sector, received holiday vouchers in the first half of this year, local Agerpres reported. The value of a holiday voucher is RON 1,450 (EUR 312) and the vouchers can only be used in Romania.

The program has supported the 4.1% increase in the number of tourists in local accommodation units in the first half of this year, according to the minister.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Ministerul Turismului on Facebook)