Today we continue the series of shows
devoted to our prize-winning competition Alba Iulia – The City of the Union.
We return to southwestern Transylvania to learn more about one of the European
cities with an established tourist and commercial brand. The other capital
city, alongside the message Welcome to Romania’s biggest citadel! are the
two slogans under which the city of Alba Iulia is being promoted.
Carmen Preja, with the Alba Iulia
National Information and Promotion Centre tells us more about the city:
First of all we are happy to
receive guests. We are glad to be the focus of attention for the whole country
and we are eager to offer tourists a lot of information and a wide range of
events. Once in Alba Iulia, visitors can find a lot of information on our
website tourism.apulum.ro The agenda of events is also posted there. Through
this website, we can keep in touch easier with both Romanian and foreign
tourists. We are welcoming you all to Alba Iulia, to discover the city’s
millennium-old history.
There are several
projects unfolding inside the citadel, says Carmen Preja:
One of
them is entitled Discover the cultural heritage of Alba Iulia. As part
of this project, all 64-tourist attractions in the city will be equipped with
Quick Response codes. Thus, tourists will be able to enjoy both tradition and
modernity. The codes can be scanned with the help of smart phones. Each code
sends tourists to the story of the object or site they are visiting. Old and
new music festivals and theatre and film festivals are also held inside the
citadel. There are also activities dedicated to both children and seniors.
The tourist
information center is located just across the Orthodox Cathedral in Alba Iulia.
Tourists who get there will receive all the information they need:
We
first show them the map of the citadel. People are usually amazed by how large
it is, as it covers 110 hectares. Its beauty has been emphasized due to some
projects funded by the European community. Then we present them the attractions
to be visited, their history and the events under way. We also assist them with
finding accommodation. We suggest them restaurants that suite their taste, we
help them purchase travel tickets and we offer them any other information they
might need. Our tourist materials are printed in German, English and Romanian.
English and German are international languages spoken by most of our tourists.
Moreover, one of my colleagues speaks Greek, and we also offer information in
Italian. So we can help all tourists, irrespective of their nationality.
Visitors are
impressed with the beauty of the citadel in Alba Iulia. The citadel is made up of seven bastions and has all
the fortification elements required by the military technique of the time. One
can enter the citadel through one of its six gates, most of them decorated with
statues and bas-reliefs. Out of the
generous accommodation offer, one can pick a hotel erected in 1972, which has
been fully refurbished.
Iulia Gus, the marketing manager of Transylvania hotel
in Alba Iulia, tells us more about it:
Visitors will have the opportunity to stay in a hotel embued with tradition,
but will also enjoy the comfort they want, especially if we speak about
tourists who demand certain quality standards. Foreign tourists will see with
their own eyes that Romania can keep up with international standards. We have
just received Top Hotel Award and we are happy that the city of the Union has a
hotel at international standards. We also have special offers. They depend on
the time of the visit and on the services required. We have tourist packages
with meals and trips included. This year we have also received families with
children. There are families that come here to spend the weekend together. We
have a special programme for them, helping them discover as much of the city as
possible, from its history to nature and culture. Many people ask us about
porcelain, so we suggest them several shops where they can find the souvenirs
they want.
Why do tourists
choose Alba Iulia? Iulia Gus explains:
First
of all, there are the festivals that take place here all summer long. Alba
Fest, three days of concerts and shows, has just ended. We have music and film
festivals all summer. There are many events dedicated to the young people.
Also, Alba Iulia and its surroundings offer many opportunities for spending
time in the middle of nature. Then there is the Mures River for boat ride,
rafting and canoe lovers. There is also the reserve in Cetea, the only place in
the world where canyoning, also known as waterfall rappelling, can be practiced. Only three kilometres
away from our hotel there is a deondrological park, an excellent place for
walks and cycling. We also have an adventure park and we’ll soon have an Aqua
Park, which is due to open on July 1st.
Tourists come to Alba Iulia from all
over the world, according to Carmen Preja from the Alba Iulia Tourist and
Promotion Center:
We have the pleasure of welcoming tourists from very exotic places,
such as Peru, Chile, New Zealand and Japan. Most tourists who come from Europe
are from the western countries. We are glad to see that when they get here they
are amazed by what they see. In a way, visitors from the west European
countries find here some roots that they have lost along the years. I remember
a couple from the US, who came with the intention of spending two weeks in Romania.
But they had already spent two months in Romania. They came to the information
centre in Alba Iulia and we talked for two hours. They just couldn’t get enough
of Romania and they couldn’t decide to leave. So, all of you are most welcome
to Alba Iulia, not only in an anniversary year, but whenever you want. Come and
discover a new destination and its warm people, always happy to see you share
their stories with you.
We remind you that you can
send your answers to the contest questions by June 30, 2018, mailing date (by
June 30, at 24.00 Romania’s time for the online participants).
