Roots

Eastern Romania and a part of Ukraine have been home to the first urban civilization in Europe:
the Cucuteni or Trypillion Culture was contemporary with the Sumerian one and almost just as
developed (3.000 - 4.000 B.C.). In spite of this fact, the epic of Romanian history is considered
to start with the Dacian culture (about 500 B.C.). This was a conglomerate of tribes that
stretched all over what today is Romania and even beyond. The Dacians have been conquered by
the Roman empire around the year 100CE so that Romanians come out of the mix between
Dacians ans Romans.
Brasov existed at the time of Roman rule (which lasted till the 3rd century CE) in the form
of Cumidava.

Situated in the heart of Romania, the city of Brasov benefits from the influence of an ancient
history. Much before the discovery of written documents, the archaeologists discovered traces of
civilisation going back to the Bronze Age. Therefore the site discovered on Dealul Melcilor
became well known in Europe. Other archaeological sites found in different places around
Brasov prove that there lived a strong community of native population, mixed later on with
Roman colonists developing into the Romanian population.

At the beginning 13th century the Saxons (German population coming from the region of Rhein
and Mosel) colonised the region of Brasov, finding here a strong Romanian community.The
genuine character of the city will come from the mixture of two different cultures and
mentalities.

The origins of Brasov as a town are lost in the dark times of medieval age. However it is known
that it developed as different communities living here decided to come together into a city. The
first written documents on Brasov go back to 1235, when the city was mentioned as CORONA,
situated on the present location of the Black Church. Later on the city was known also as Brasco,
Brasso, Stephanopolis, Kronstadt, and Brasov. However the most popular names of the city are
the last two ones.

Thanks to its geographical position and the good connections to Moldavia and Valachia, Brasov
will grow economically fast, becoming one of the most important centres of Transylvania.

The traders of Brasov will have special trade privileges with the other Romanian counties. The
free right of bringing goods there will help them develop a very strong craftsmen community. In
the 16th century there were more than 45 corporations, grouped according to their field of
activity. The craftsmen and traders were the most influential people in Brasov. The economical
welfare of the city will make Brasov develop into an architectural jewel. The most important
historical monuments were built in that period: The Old City Hall, Podul Batusilor (today
hosting the Cerbul Carpatin restaurant), The Old Granary (today the lovely Bistrot de l'Arte), the
Black Church (14th century), and the St. Nicolae Church in Scheii Brasovului.

The 14th century found the Turkish armies just South of the Danube River. They were frequently
attacking the region of Brasov. This situation determined the citizens of Brasov to start building
a strong defensive city wall, fortresses and towers; the work will last till the 18th century. The
town will be now one of the strongest cities in Transylvania. The various guilds had each its own
towers and fortresses that they would have to maintain and defend throughout the centuries.
Today you may see parts of the old city walls or visit the Weavers' Fortress (currently a
museum).

The culture of Brasov will also develop during this period. Johannes Honterus, a great German
humanist will work for most of the time in Brasov, and the deacon Coresi will print the first
Romanian books here. Therefore in the 16th century Brasov will host several schools, libraries,
and printing houses.

1688 will be one of the toughest years in the history of Brasov. It will have to fight in the same
time with the uprising against the Austrian armies who were occupying Transylvania at the time,
with a devastating fire that destroyed most of Brasov, and with outbreak of plague. Still hopeful,
the citizens of Brasov will rapidly rebuild the city.

The 19th century, the age of progress, as we all know it, will mean a lot for Brasov. The city
walls will be partly taken down, allowing a fast development. Manufacturers and factories will
replace the old, conservative guilds. Once freed by medieval restraints, the trade will be better
than ever for Brasov. This also helped a lot the development of education and media.

"Gazeta de Transilvania", the first Romanian political newspaper in Transylvania, was founded
in 1838. This would be the main paper to fight for the independence of Transylvania, which was
occupied at the time by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was also issuing a literary review that
will promote the Romanian writers and poets living in Transylvania.

The first half of the 20th century and especially the period following the 1st world war were
times when Brasov became the second strongest economical centre of Romania. However the
town was partly destroyed during the bombardments of the 2nd world war.

Fortunately the town recovered every time things went wrong here, mainly because of the
outstanding people living here. Thanks to them we are now able to live here and share this
privilege with the visitors of the city.

Culture
Romanian modern culture starts around the 16th century with the first preserved writings. The
Romanians in Transylvania have been an important part of the creation of unity and fight for a
national ideal. In this time intense cultural activities have been going on in Hungarian and
Saxon ruling minorities as well. Art, literature and science have developed fast, almost to be
up to date with western Europe. The 19th century has been a century of intense struggle for the
Romanian national ideal and the reunification of the three provinces. In 1848 revolutions have
happened in all provinces, but they have not been successful, so that the fight has been moved
into an intellectual realm in Transylvania. After a war of independence Tara Romaneasca and
Moldavia united to become the kingdom of Romania. The second half of the 19th century and
the beginning of the 20th have been a time of rapid cultural and technological developments, as
well as urbanization, especially in the kingdom of Romania.
1918 has been the year when Transylvania was united with the kingdom of Romania, and
became Greater Romania. The time between the two world wars is considered to be Romania's
greatest time, as it was a flourishing country, and a key player in Europe. After the second
world war the communist regime landed like a dust bomb in Romania to turn everything grey:
neighbourhoods of historical houses have been destroyed, small business owners (which were
mostly Hungarian, Jewish and Saxon) and intellectuals have been imprisoned and killed.
Propaganda and oppression of everybody who was against the insane regime became the norm.
In the 16th century Brasov became an important city for printing: it had two printing presses
and the world's first paper mill. Cultural activities of all ethnic groups flourished, and the
introduction of street lights in 1804 became a symbol for the cultural illumination of the city. In
the second half of the 19th century Brasov becomes home of Transylvanias first credit
institution, and it also got a telegraph, a train, a tram, and a telephone line. In 1916 Aurel Vlaicu
is flying with his plane from Brasov. In 1987 a precursor of the Romanian Anticommunist
revolution takes place in Brasov. On 2nd may 1989 the painter Liviu Babes sets himself on fire
on a slope in Poiana Brasov to attract international attention over atrocities committed by the
communist regime. Six months later the communist regime became history.
SWOT Analysis
Strength Weakness
Opportunities Threats
2.1 Analysis of the tourism market in Brasov
Type/Year 2015 2016 2017 Description
Types of
Touristic
Structure
Tourist
accommodation
capacity
Arrival of
Tourists
Overnight stays
of tourists
The analysis of the official statistics concerning Brasov tourism activities in the last
years shows little information that can assist decision-makers in their attempt to
propose practical actions aimed at increasing tourists’ length of stay, accommodation
occupancy rate and tourism’s multiplier effect for other economic activities.

The number of available rooms in the city of Brasov has increased with 150% (over
1.000 rooms) between 2003 and 2010 (see Figure 1). The number of urban guesthouses
has tripled during the eight analyzed years while the number of hotels in Brasov has
increased with 25% in the same period, despite a considerable decrease of their weight
in the total number of rooms from 82% in 2003 to 68% in 2010.
Tourism activities have recorded a constant growth till the beginning of the global
economic crisis in 2008, when tourism indicators have shown a decline that continued
in 2009 and 2010. However, the year 2010 ended with a slight recovery of tourist
arrivals and overnight stays, compared to the previous year (see Figure 2). The results
published by Brasov County Statistics Institute for the first eight months of 2011 show
an increase with over 50% of tourist arrivals, compared to the same period in 2010.

Tourists’ overnight stays have registred the same growth, larger for Romanian tourists
and thus contributing to a slight increase (of 1.9 percents) of the occupancy rate.
Except few annual variations, 26% of Brasov tourists are foreigners: 75% are
Europeans and 18% are asians, while the others come from other regions of the world.
During the analyzed period of time (2003-2010) most foreign tourists visiting Brasov
came from Germany (about 10.000 persons/year), Israel (about 8.000 persons/year),
France (about 5.000 persons/year), United Kingdom and Spain (about 4.000
persons/year).
The regional Destination Management Organization (DMO) – The Association for
Tourism Promotion and Development in Brasov County (APDT) has started to
organize montly meetings with tourism stakeholders for strategic consultations that
include a regular update concerning local and regional tourism statistics. We consider it
a worthwhile initiative with long term effects on the tourism planning process in this
urban destination. Although these meetings are often aimed at proposing new tourism
products and initiating tourism development projects, we consider them partially
effective due to the lack of information about Brasov tourist segments, their socio-
demographic and travel characteristics. Brasov, as a tourism destination, has also been
studied in several scientific papers but none of them focused on tourists’ profiles and
travel behaviour. Consequently, the present paper aims to study the hetereogeneity of
Brasov tourism market in order to outline the different segments of tourists considering
socio-demographic variables and their perception of the destination. This information is
valuable for both the local DMO and tourist services providers as a framework for
 further tourism planning and marketing activities

3. Marketing strategy for the tourists destination

Product
Brasov can offer a variety of products to its tourists, from local cuisine to DIY trips to a
relaxation day at the Aquatic Paradise. Brasov is very well known for its restaurants such as
Ceasul Rau, Four Roses, Sergiana Restaurant and it can fit any type of occasion from a late
breakfast at Thirteen Café to a romantic dinner at the Bella Musica Restaurant. As for sights and
places to visit, we mention the most popular such as Biserica Neagra, “Sforii” Street which is the
3rd narrowest street in Europe, the Brasov Citadel, Tampa and certainly not the least the very
center of Brasov, “Piata Sfatului”. Brasov also has an aqua park called the Aquatic Paradise, with
numerous heated pools both outside and inside.

Price
Summary about cost of living in Brasov:

 Four-person family monthly costs: 6,291.17lei without rent (using our estimator).
 A single person monthly costs: 1,821.98lei without rent.
 Cost of living index in Brasov is 11.37% lower than in Bucharest.
 Cost of living rank 443th out of 536cities in the world.
 Brasov has a cost of living index of 37.85

Place
Brasov is situated in the middle of the country so transportation is easy, whether by train, car,
bus and soon there will also be an airplane. Many of its attractions are in the center of the town
called “Piata Sfatului”, other are easily reached by foot or for Tampa by a cabin that transports
the passengers right at the top where there is also a small restaurant where people can relax.
Some restaurants such as Four Roses are located in the Old Brasov and require a car or cab to
arrive there faster. Also the aqua park is on the outskirts of the city and it also requires
transportation by car. Cabs are easily accessible, there is an app for them and also multiple taxi
stations near the center.
Promotion
Brasov is one of the most popular tourism locations in Romania, its architecture, historical
buildings and top-rated restaurants are what attract most tourists. Trip advisor has multiple
reviews and advice on staying, eating and visiting in Brasov and Booking is often used to make
reservations since it offers many alternatives and prices can be reasonable. There are multiple
articles about Brasov online, so tourists can really get whatever information they need and can
easily realize the potential of this town as a beautiful and filled with history attraction.
(Tripadvisor.com, 2018)
People
People in Brasov are generally warm-hearted and this is also shown by most positive reviews on
booking. Most reviews talk about personnel as being “remarkable”, “very pleasant”, “friendly”,
“professional” and “very experienced”. This shows that the people chosen for the services are
very well suited for the job. (Booking.com, 2018)
Physical evidence
There are many physical evidence for the high level of the services in Brasov. Most restaurant,
hotels and other renting places have rankings between 8 and 9.5 on booking which is very high
and proves the level of satisfaction of customers. (Booking.com, 2018)
Also the Facebook page of Brasov has 189K likes and the average reviews of bars, hotels,
places to visit, restaurants and shopping places is between 4.5 and 5 stars. (Facebook.com, 2018)
Processes
What makes people return to Brasov is the ability of the people providing services there to assure
the same level of satisfaction every time. This is shown by statements such as “ I come back here
every year” or “perfect service every time” not to mention the very good rankings over large
periods of time account for the perpetual high level of comfort and satisfaction, regardless of the
time of visit. (Booking.com, 2018)
4. Marketing program for cultural tourism
1.05.2018 Brain storming period
5.05.2018 Recruitment period
15.05.2018 Team meeting
16.05.2018 Execution to marketing plan
18.05.2018 Budgeting and building financial plan
20.05.2018 Contacting sponsors
23.05.2018 Building promotional instruments
24.05.2018 Research and set fixed
touristic areas that will be
showcased
27.05.2018 Regulate activity through the
authorities and local
community
30.05.2018 Establish the orders and
finalise the orders Of
marketing instruments
1.06.2018 Set-up location
2.06.2018 Start with the online
campaign and offline
5.06.2018 Setting up the campaign
starting point
10.06.2018 Gather the data from online
campaign
12.06.2018 Confirm from the database
the number of arriving
tourists from online and
offline campaign
15.06.2018 Start tour
18.06.2018 End the tour
19.06.2018 Feedback and review of
tourist satisfactory
20.06.2018 Execution of a different plan

Development of the plan

1.05.2018-15.05.2018
16.05.2018-27.05.2018
Conduct a marketing research
and plan to highlight the city
to find better way to market
it. Here the teams will be
built to help execute the plan
Here the financial and
 accounting department will
handle the statement and
pricing structure. Sponsors
will be local businesses that
will lower prices to get their
logo stamped on our flyers.
Authorities will also regulate
the activity and protect our
rights of working in the area.
30.05.2018-12.06.2018 The marketing team here will
establish a marketing plan
where the flyers (shown in
appendix) will be built to
attract the tourists to the tour
program. They will conduct a
plan that will highlight
Brasov's most historic and
also modern sights that could
interest both age groups and
interests groups. The team
will ensure to design a clear
and structured program that
meets The typical tourists
objective of seeing a country.
The tourist that signs up to
our program through either
(facebook, official page,
Instagram or by order) will be
counted and confirmed to
finalize the orders on
transportation (buses) and
restaurant sits.
15.06.2018-20.06.2018 Here the trip will start by
picking up the tourists early
in the morning, check that
they are attending and also
contact our partners that will
collaborate with us
(restaurants, museums and
areas such) about the time or
arrival. We are expecting that
in this period we will have 2
tour guides that will watch
over the tourists and other to
analyse the tour. At the end of
the tour we are expecting to
 hear the feedback from the
tourists to build another
program that will improve
our quality on the next on the
beginning of August.

5. References
Tripadvisor.com. (2018). Brasov 2018: Best of Brasov, Romania Tourism - TripAdvisor. [online]
Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g295394-
Brasov_Brasov_County_Central_Romania_Transylvania-Vacations.html [Accessed 30 Apr.
2018].
Booking.com. (2018). Ajutor! Care este cel mai bun hotel?. [online] Available at:
https://www.booking.com/searchresults.ro.html?label=gen173nr-
1DCAEoggJCAlhYSDNYBGjAAYgBAZgBIMIBCndpbmRvd3MgMTDIAQzYAQPoAQGSA
gF5qAID&sid=72b8d9e49f0d49ad96ed1d4b6d2ce3f2&class_interval=1&dest_id=-
1153613&dest_type=city&dtdisc=0&from_sf=1&group_adults=2&group_children=0&inac=0&i
ndex_postcard=0&label_click=undef&no_rooms=1&postcard=0&room1=A%2CA&sb_price_ty
pe=total&src=index&src_elem=sb&ss=Brasov&ss_all=0&ssb=empty&sshis=0&rows=15&offse
t=15 [Accessed 30 Apr. 2018].
Facebook. (2018). Things to do in Brasov, Romania | Facebook. [online] Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/places/Ce-poti-face-in-Braov/114791928537378/ [Accessed 30 Apr.
2018].
Appendix (flyer)
Visit Brasov because:
No matter, winter or summer, people are warm-hearted throughout the whole year and will make
you return year after year.
Take a trip back in time and see the well-preserved historical buildings, the Council Square and
the Bran Castle and amaze at the multitude of colors and architectural diversity.
Transylvanian cuisine is exquisite and diverse and the number of must-eat-at restaurants and
pubs in Brasov is outstanding. You will never need to go at the same restaurant twice but you
just might since there will be many favorites to choose from.
The mountainous location greets you with fresh air and amazing views, the cobblestone streets
and artistic details of the buildings will make this trip unforgettable.