“We have just opened two new franchise agencies, in Targu Mures and Sibiu. By year-end, we wish to expand the franchise network countrywide and reach 25 units. In the coming three years, we are interested in covering all major cities, resorts, and sightseeing areas in Romania,” one of the owners of J’Info Tours, Carmen Pavel, told Business Standard. According to Pavel, the average investment in a franchise unit is €10,000-15,000.

The agency’s two owners, Aurel and Carmen Pavel, entered a partnership with businessman Cristi Tantareanu, to build a five-star hotel outside Bucharest, with a total investment of €10 million.

J’Info Tours posted €32 mln in turnover in 2008, almost double year-on-year. “Local tourism made up no more than 5-6 percent,” said Carmen Pavel. Of the tour operator’s competitors, Eximtur presently has 12 agencies and Paralela 45 has 30 agencies. The value of the tourism market was estimated at over €800 mln last year, up one quarter compared to 2007. Market analysts forecast an increase of 10 percent at most for 2009, considering the economic crisis