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EASTERN EUROPE GUSSIES UP FOR TOURISTS
As 10 Countries Join the EU, Hotels and Services Upgrade. Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Romania
  

By Eleena De Lisser, Staff Reporter
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY
Wednesday, March 31, 2004; Page D1

A region that for many Americans still conjures up images of the Iron Curtain is trying to recast itself as a major tourist destination.

On May 1, the European Union will welcome 10 Central and Eastern European countries as new members. They include Poland, the Czech Republic and several other formerly Communist countries.

In the hopes of luring foreign tourists who have gotten their fill of Paris and London, many of the new EU member countries -- some of which spent decades in lockdown mode due to Communism -- are rapidly trying to upgrade their travel infrastructure. In addition to novelty, the Eastern European countries are marketing themselves as a bargain compared to Western Europe.

Budapest's Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church near the Danube. The Four Seasons and other top-tier hotels are moving in, and there's a new Radisson in the countryside
Stone/Getty Images

A hotel building boom that began after the fall of Communism has picked up steam in recent years -- and many of the new properties are names recognizable to Americans. Courtyard by Marriott opened its first hotel in Eastern Europe last October, at the Frederic Chopin International Airport in Warsaw, Poland, complete with high-speed Internet access and valet parking. Holiday Inn and Radisson hotels are popping up in Poland and Hungary.

The region is getting some new high-end hotels as well. The Four Seasons and Boscolo Hotels, a top-end Italian-based hotel company, are both opening new properties this year in Budapest. Next month, Starwood Hotels is opening a Sheraton in Krakow, Poland, which is calling itself the city's first "five star" international property.

Transportation options are also improving. Smart Wings, the Czech Republic's first official low-fare airline, will start flying in May with flights connecting Prague to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris and Zurich.

For Mary Ellen Stevens of Franklin, Tenn., a recent vacation to Hungary and Romania in Eastern Europe was just the ticket -- precisely because it wasn't the same old Western Europe. "There's more to learn," she says. "When you get out into these other places, there is nothing that is similar to the way that we live."

Prague
(Click on images to enlarge them)

For American travelers, many of these emerging destinations remain a better value than their Western European neighbors. Travel agents say that Prague, which has some of the most well-developed tourism infrastructure, prices have risen but are still at least 25% less than comparable accommodations and transportation in Western European cities.

When the EU enlargement occurs in May, none of the new member countries will be using the European currency, the euro, yet.

In a move that will expand the geography of the European Union by a third and add roughly 100 million new residents, there are bound to be big differences in readiness for the influx of visitors. Here's how selected destinations stack up in terms of readiness -- as well as a few neighbors, including Croatia and Romania, which aren't part of the expansion but which are trying to ride the coattails.

HUNGARY

Last year, the number of American visitors to Hungary actually fell 9% but, interestingly enough, they stayed longer -- meaning more money pumped into the Hungarian economy.

Budapest has a vibrant culture, with influences from the Hungarians, Germans, Jews, Slavs and a little bit from the Turks. At least three upscale hotel chains, including the Four Seasons have announced plans to open luxury hotels. In the countryside, at least two luxury spa resorts are slated to open this year.

This year, for the first time, Eurail is offering a two-country train pass to cover travel between Hungary and Romania. First-class Hungary-Romania passes are currently 50% off, and prices start from $200 for a five-day first-class pass. They can be purchased through travel agents in the U.S.

Prague

CZECH REPUBLIC

With its fairytale architecture and scenic location, Prague is the most sophisticated of the tourism destinations in all of Eastern Europe.

Richard L. Engle of TravelWizard.com says that the price differential between Prague and a similar city in Western Europe, can be significant. He recently booked some clients on a trip to Berlin and Prague and says the price he received for the hotel and private limo services in Prague were almost 50% less than similar upscale accommodations and car service in Berlin. But Mr. Engle readily admits that with the ascension to the EU, prices are likely to rise.

POLAND

While Poland is the largest new member to the EU and today enjoys a stable, free-market democracy, its tourist infrastructure isn't highly developed in all areas. Travel agents say, for the most part, Americans showing interest in traveling to Poland have some sort of familial connection and that its cities don't hold the same appeal as Prague and Budapest. Many travelers come to pay their respects at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the notorious Nazi concentration camps.

Rick Steves, a Redmond, Wash., travel-book author and tour operator, says U.S. visitors may find more of interest in Krakow, which is an old-fashioned European city, than in Warsaw. While the capital is famous and important, it's not "particularly pretty," says Mr. Steves, noting its mixture of competing architectural styles from "crumbling Communist apartment blocks," to "postcommunist, super-modern glass-and-steel skyscrapers."

CROATIA

This small country, with a population of 4.5 million, is one of the rapidly emerging hot destinations in Eastern Europe for the jet set. Travel-book companies have taken notice: For the first time, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides has issued one of their glossy tomes on the little country.

While Croatia isn't among the 10 slated to join the European Union May 1, it is a destination that's attracting more notice from Western European and American tourists, despite its recent, violent history in the 1990s, when it was a stage for the war that split the former Yugoslavia. In fact, 65,430 Americans visited Croatia in 2003, an almost 12% increase from the year before. Many are floating in on cruise ships, which have added Croatia to their itineraries.

Ellison Poe, a Little Rock, Ark., travel agent, recommends Croatia as an add-on to a vacation in Italy, noting that Croatia's Dalmatian Coast has spectacular scenery. Plus a vibe that can feel more Mediterranean than Eastern European.

Bob Drumm, president of General Tours in Keene, N.H., added Croatia to his Eastern Europe lineup this year after noticing the "big numbers" of Europeans headed to the resort city of Dubrovnik.

Dawn and Jim Effron of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., vacationed in Croatia last fall and were surprised that Dubrovnik, scene of some of the most intense fighting during the war, was as well-restored as it is. Though driving in the countryside the damage was more evident, including the occasional shell casing.

ROMANIA

This country, which isn't slated to join the EU until 2007, is the dark horse in the Eastern European tourism sweepstakes. While the country has undergone significant political and economic changes since its 1989 revolution, it's still lagging behind other more developed countries in Eastern Europe. The U.S. State Department says most tourist facilities in Romania, "while being upgraded, have not yet reached Western European standards."

But for a certain kind of traveler, one who wants a less freshly scrubbed-up and spit-polished vacation, that may be precisely its appeal. Two of the main draws: Bucharest and Transylvania.

NOTE: Major travel and tourism opportunities are getting closer and closer to Ukraine. Will Ukraine take advantage of this real situtation?

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