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Murray, Rupert Wolfe
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2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Bridge holiday makes no sense for tourism
The Romanian government has exceptionally declared 30 April a public holiday this year. The Ministry of Tourism hopes to use the four-day weekend to encourage tourism. Rupert Wolfe Murray of the Contributors blog portal is sceptical: "The ministry wants to push Romania as a tourist destination. It has spent a good deal of money trying to do this in recent years without achieving results. ... The ministry is employing an army of inspectors in 42 Romanian regions who are supposed to do something about the quality of hotels and bed and breakfasts. But all they are doing in reality is arbitrarily imposing fines. ...The British owner of a bed and breakfast had to pay because a bedcover was touching the floor. Another hotel owner had to pay 2,000 euros because he was using an ecological sewage system - something the officials had never heard of. ... They still have the communist mentality that [tourism] businesses are all speculators, thieves and slave drivers. The idea of encouraging tourism - instead of putting a brake on it - is alien to them."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Tourism, » Romania
The Romanians' love of cars
The inhabitants of the Romanian capital should finally do something about the parking of cars on pavements, writes Rupert Wolfe Murray, a Scot living in Bucharest. "In the UK you can get arrested for parking your car on a pavement. In the Netherlands the car is towed away and confiscated. Bucharest is probably the only capital in the EU that doesn't punish people for parking their cars illegally. ... As far as I can tell, cars have more rights than citizens in Bucharest - also because Romanians are so excessively passionate about their cars. This feeling has its origins in the days of communism. Back then only party functionaries, directors, high-ranking military officers and Securitate employees owned a car. This inspired awe and respect. People still believe owning a car confers power on them."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Public Culture, » Romania
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