PHOTO Gala of excellence awards in tourism nominates winners in Moldova

Chisinau, 27 September /MOLDPRES/ - A ceremony on the handing over of the excellence awards in tourism 2023 today took place at the headquarters of the National Art Museum of Moldova, in the context of the World Tourism Day, marked on 27 September.  

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister, Agriculture and Food Industry Minister  Vladimir Bolea said that, along with the Culture Ministry, a branch of the domestic tourism was to be developed, which is in an incipient stage. Bolea noted that, only with the creation of the national tourism office, which will be opened soon, an ample development of Moldova’s domestic tourism would start in the country. ‘’Presently, the people from the tourism sector are focused on the import of tourism services and we are interested in promoting Moldova as a tourist destination. We will establish tourist routes, based on our culture and agriculture,’’ Vladimir Bolea stressed.        

For his part, Culture Minister Sergiu Prodan said the tourism represented knowledge, going through experiences, discovering the world where we live. ‘’People come to discover us and they should discover us as a society of well-educated people, who live in a clean environment. With these basic elements – a society of well-educated people, who live in a clean environment, we have all doors opened in front of us, beginning with the support of the United States, with our European perspective, with our multiculturalism, which we must turn to good account,’’ Sergiu Prodan also said.      

Attending the event, Ambassador of the United States to Moldova Kent D. Logsdon highly appreciated Moldova’s tourist potential, stressing that tourism was an ever more important pillar of developing the rural areas. ‘’This sector generated more than 800 million dollars for Moldova’s economy in 2022,’’ the diplomat noted.      

At the Gala of Excellence Awards in the tourism sector, the actors from the tourism industry were nominated at 8 different categories of contest. Thus, the awards went to the Cuib (Nest) Boarding House from Capriana, Straseni district, Tourism Information Centre Casa Veche (Old House) from Palanca, Stefan Voda district, tourist agencies Wine Tours, Visit Moldova, Turtrabis, trainers Nicolae Platon, Lucia Căpățână and Veronica Bulat, the Honey Mansion Boarding house, etc.        

The event was organized by the Culture Ministry, with the strategic support of the Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity Project, financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Investments Agency, National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association from Moldova and the Moldovan State University.  

In 2022, 4.7 million foreigners visited Moldova, of whom 162,000 tourists. This year, the number of tourists who came to Moldova grew by 110 per cent against January-June 2022. In 2023, most tourists are from Ukraine, Romania, USA, Turkey and Germany.