Living in an area that has become a touristic one for a few years, I can see the difference between one year to another, in terms of tourists influx and the way I see it, they were more and more coming to us, with every year. I guess they fell in love with the Decebalus face sculpted on that giant rock.
The Corona lock down has basically froze tourism everywhere in the world, and this small corner in the S-W of Romania is no exception. The lock down is not over yet, although some relaxation is in place but, that doesn't mean everything has come back to normal in a matter of days.
Restaurants haven't opened yet, and once they will do that, which is being said to happen as of June 2, this year, there will be a 2 meters social distance that has to be respected, hence this won't be a good year for restaurants either.
In the boat cruises sector, that I have had a collaboration as well last summer, is all but certainty regarding how things will work out. I just spoke with a ship owner, who has some connections in the legislative forums, and it's very unclear whether there will be a touristic season for the boat owners, this year, or not.
Imagine that you have to have at least seven persons in a boat, an eight meters long one, to make the cruise profitable, and that's a minimum of clients that one needs. If there will be the requirements to have two meters between your clients, you as a driver included in the equation, then as a owner of such a small business... you're kind of screwed.
Again, the narrative that small business are affected the most by this pandemic, is more than legit in my opinion. Big ships will probably be able to make that 2 meters social distance happen but, for the small ones it would be absolutely impossible.
The only way to make it profitable would be to have private tours with only family members that would have to pay a minimum of $100 for the entire boat, and get to shake hands with Decebalus without any strangers around them...
I don't know anything about masks and for how long they will be a must in closed spaces but, during summer I see wearing a mask quite of a mission impossible. You can hardly breathe when it's just 20°C... so imagine how you would do that at over 30... The shit hit the fan this year, for the small tourism entrepreneurs and it's sad to see that.
There are tens of thousands of dollars invested in boats and decks, and equipment, plus tax, that are gonna sit aside, as well as their once mad propellers. Oh, I almost forgot... I had to fill this post with some photos, because making dull posts is not my thing, and I decided to monomad edit some of mine from the touristic area that I am talking about.
It's called the Danube's Boilers and it became quite famous in Romania, the last few years, mostly to Decebalus Face sculpted in a giant rock, which is the biggest rock sculpture in Europe, having a height of 50 meters and about 25 in width, and a few caves full of history, and sometimes two or three deadly snakes. This year, unfortunately, Decebalus will suffer a bit from loneliness, and will probably have to wear a mask.
Social distancing sucks, and Corona sucks more... By the way, that's how our Romanian flag looks like, in colors, that you have below as a Hive banner. Proud of my origins, and some long forgotten history but, not too proud of my people. Have a great day guys!
Thanks for attention,
Adrian