The Moldova Competitiveness Enhancement and Enterprise Development II (CEED II) project

The project effectively diversifies local attractions, leveraging social media for promotion, launching successful familiarization tours, expanding export capabilities, and facilitating public-private dialogue. Tourism is an emerging sector in Moldova, driven by the need for job creation and the growing tourism market around the world. The number of foreign visitors coming to Moldova is steadily increasing, reaching nearly 2.5 million in 2013. The sector has more than 440 companies, but those promoting inbound tourism are limited. Moldova's unique profile for tourism, including rich gastronomy and wine traditions, notable cultural history, and an efficient geographical position, positions it with a competitive advantage as an authentic destination in the heart of Europe. The growth of the tourism sector results in an increased demand for important goods and services for Moldova's economy, such as transportation and accommodation. The growth of the sector means economic growth for Moldova. The USAID Competitiveness Enhancement and Enterprise Development II (CEED II) program created a vision focused around supporting the position of Moldova as an in-demand travel destination. A functional approach to promoting Moldova as a tourism destination was created to include upgrading tourism attractions and products, consolidating industry cooperation and public-private dialogue, and creating an enhanced destination image. Each of these components was vital to ensure a comprehensive transformation and re-launch Moldova's tourism sector. Ensuring local buy-in of existing tour operators, associations, and related service providers resulted in tourism strategies, streamlined sector priorities, and a new destination image for Moldova. With CEED II support, the international perception of Moldova as a tourism destination was raised through a series of strategic actions. The new country image, "Tree of Life," was developed based on a strong public-private dialogue being embraced by the industry and the public. It is now a distinctive brand that positions Moldova as an authentic tourism destination in the heart of Europe. Major initiatives, such as VAT reduction for hotel services, marketing and promotion plan development, and application of statistical methodologies aligned with UNWTO standards, consolidated industry cooperation and enhanced competitiveness in the sector. The Moldova Holiday website, the first and most complex informational platform, was developed and launched in September 2012. Today, it is the national tourism website, with more than 1 million page views, providing valuable information about Moldova's tourism offerings to foreign visitors for targeted markets and Moldovan citizens. A Moldova tourism mobile application was developed and launched to feature 50 top tourism destinations. Millions of prospective travelers also learned about Moldova through the first promotional country video broadcast on Euronews. Familiarization tours for travel writers and tour operators from 12 target countries resulted in more than 70 articles being published about Moldovan tourism on specialized websites and magazines worldwide. To help Moldova reposition its offerings, more than 35 new products and itineraries were launched around wine, biking, and hiking. The sustainability of these activities is ensured by collaboration with ANTRIM, the country's first inbound tourism association, created with CEED II support. ANTRIM is one of the most active and important NGOs in the field, promoting Moldova as a tourism destination and representing the interests of its members in local and international markets. Association membership increased from eight to 14 members after one year. Working together, members contribute to the development of the industry, achievement of common goals, and improvement of the business climate. The spectrum of ANTRIM activities is diverse, from lobbying and advocacy through partnerships with national and international organizations to international promotion through introduction of innovative cultural events. Public-private partnerships were established to push industry priorities. Policy and strategies were developed to support the growing sector, with NTA drafting a Tourism Development Strategy 2020 and improved data gathering systems put in place to more accurately track information in line with EU and World Tourism Organization standards. These activities were undertaken with significant CEED II support through international expertise. In August 2014, CEED II and NTA signed a memorandum of cooperation in which parties committed to join efforts toward development of a new tourism country brand and the elaboration of the marketing and promotion plan to consolidate sector actions. After developing 50-second, 30-second, and 6-minute videos to reach international markets, the NTA aired the first promotional country video on Euronews, which resulted in 25,000 foreign visits to moldovaholiday.travel during one month. A resulting YouTube placement had more than 40,000 views in its first week. The vision for promotion is to create mediums for tourism in Moldova to be showcased internationally through targeted marketing and promotion efforts.