Shedding Ceausescu and Dracula

My first trip to Romania was in 1985, when my father brought my brother and me to his native country for the first time since he fled the communist regime in the 1960s.

I have returned countless times since, only to witness the country crumble in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution, then ever so slowly begin a steady recovery.

Like any gradual process, it was difficult to recognize the change from one year to the next. Even as I continued to travel to Romania after becoming a senior editor for Travel Weekly, I steered clear of covering the country as a travel destination, feeling that it wasn't ready for prime time. As I compared and contrasted my ancestral homeland with other travel destinations, it just didn't seem like it could compete.

That view changed during my visit last month. This time I felt that Romania had reached that unique point in a country's development when it finally has a sufficient number of the comforts and amenities that international travelers require -- most critically adequate hotels and navigable roads -- yet still can boast the unspoiled landscapes and Old World charm quickly disappearing from more economically developed countries in Eastern Europe.

"People think of Romania, still, as a Third World country where gypsies are going to steal your money, but it's not like that," said Csilla Dali, owner of the Chicago-based agency Global Voyages Inc.

Dali, who was born in Romania, and moved to the U.S. in 2003 and now sells it as a destination, is seeing an uptick in interest among a more mainstream travel market.

"I went last summer, and I did a little tour of Romania, of places that I myself hadn't been to," Dali said. "I was just blo wn away -- the amount of tourists that weren't Romanian, I couldn't believe it. I made the mistake of not prebooking my accommodations. It was so hard to book anything."

Romania had been all but closed off to Western tourism during the years it was on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain. Following the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, it took the country a long time to heal its deep economic and political wounds before beginning to evolve into a functioning free-market democracy.

The Kosovo War in neighboring Serbia in the late 1990s did nothing to enhance the region's appeal. Thus, it has only been in the last 15 years or so that Romania has begun to see and embrace the opportunity to develop its tourism economy.

According to the Romanian National T ourist Office (RNTO), between 1998 and 2013 the country saw a modest annual growth rate in international tourists that averaged 3.4%. However, since 2009, that growth rate has increased to an average of 5.7% a year.

The number of U.S. visitors to Romania was growing at a steady 8.1%, year over year, from 1990 until the global recession hit in 2008. The number dropped 12% in 2009, followed by a flat 2010. But as was the case with most destinations worldwide, visitor growth returned in spades last year, with 23.4% more U.S. arrivals than in 2010.

In all, more than 200,000 U.S. tourists traveled to Romania last year, and the RNTO said it expected the upward trend to continue.

"Although Romania was slow compared to other destinations in Central Europe, the significant volume of ongoing investments and development will, without a doubt, create the conditions for Romania to become one of the most attractive and competitive tourist destinations in the region," said Simion Alb, the RNTO's North American representative.

As travelers continue to seek undiscovered, off-the-beaten path destinations that have been off-limits to tourists for one reason or another, Romania is increasingly coming on the radar.

Tour operators and travel companies that sell the country have seen growing interest in this Eastern European destination nestled at the crossroads of Central Europe, Russia and the Balkans.

For example, Peter Langer of Bestway Tours & Safaris, a Canadian operator that specializes in off-the-beaten-path destinations, said, "Romania has been seeing the highest increase from the Eastern European destinations that Bestway operates to."

He said Bestway's Roma nia product has experienced 20% to 25% annual growth in recent years.

Last month, when high-end adventure operator Travcoa released its list of the 10 most desirable European travel destinations for 2014, a combined Romania and Bulgaria itinerary was at the top.

"This list was created from the positive feedback of our guests," Jerre Fuqua, Travcoa's president, said in a statement describing the rankings. "What they've told us is that each journey offers the traveler unparalleled access to Old World Europe in 21st century comfort."

Romania has had several factors aiding its awareness of late. For one, the growing cruise products on the Danube River include itineraries that extend all the way down to the Black Sea, encompassing Romania and a stop in its capital city, Bucharest.

More recently, unrest on the Crimean peninsula led to several cruise companies canceling their port calls in the region and adding stops or prolonging stays in other Black Sea destinatio ns, including in the Romanian coastal city of Constanta.

But those factors merely added to what had already been a mounting curiosity about a part of the world isolated from the West for decades behind the Iron Curtain.

And, for better or worse, folklore surrounding Dracula, gypsies and the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had already left Westerners with an awareness of Romania. The country's tourism industry is now trying to leverage that awareness and expand it beyond the stereotypes, educating visitors about what the country actually has to offer as a tourist destination.

In an effort to compete with destinations throughout Europe, Romania has recently begun focusing heavily on marketing its ecotourism resources and historical heritage, features that the country's tourism industry feels set the country apart.

"Romania is slowly growing as a tourism destination," said Andrei Blumer, president of the Association of Ecotourism in Romania. "There are sect ors such as ecotourism, rural and culture tourism that are becoming one of the main attractions for the international market."

The Association of Ecotourism promotes components of Romania's tourism product, including assets such as the Carpathian Mountains, its wolves, bears and other wildlife; the Danube Delta; authentic rural life; the history and culture reflected in the medieval architecture of Transylvania, with its fortified churches; and the painted monasteries of Bucovina.

There are seven Unesco World Heritage sites in Romania, including the churches of Moldavia, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains, the historic city of Sighisoara, the wooden churches of Maramures and the Danube Delta.

"Romania has bec ome more and more interesting for foreigners because of this type of ecotourism based on nature and adventure travel," said Doru Frolu, a co-founder of the Rowmania project, an initiative designed to promote the development of local green infrastructure in the Danube Delta.

"Romania's advantages lie in the high diversity of destinations," Frolu said. "For example, in Romania we have two completely different typologies of ecosystems and cultural diversity: the Danube Delta, which is the youngest land in Europe, and the Macin Mountains, which are the oldest mountains in Romania."

In order to deliver travelers to these unique destinations scattered about the country, Romania has had to ramp up its hotel and transportation infrastructure to make the place more amenable to Western tourists.

Over the past 10 years, more than 70,000 hotel rooms have been added across the country, and in Bucharest alone room supply doubled, according to the RNTO.

Many major U.S. hote l chains now have a presence in Romania, including Hilton, Radisson, Ramada, Marriott and Starwood. But perhaps more interesting than the brand names is the number of impressive independent and boutique hotel projects that are cropping up around the country.

The Danube Delta region offers a rich natural landscape of lakes, waterways and marshes that flow into the Black Sea, and it is home to more than 300 species of birds and 45 varieties of freshwater fish. Here, several four- and five-star eco-resort properties have opened, including the Delta Nature Resort and Green Village.

The small Transylvanian town of Viscri drew widespread attention in 2006 when Britain's Prince Charles bought and renovated an 18th century farmhouse in the S axon village, which can be rented out for overnight stays. In addition, a young couple established a boutique property called Viscri 125. With a Unesco-designated fortified church in town, Viscri makes for a convenient stop while visiting the Transylvania region.

"Romania is going through a touristic developmental boom," said Monica George, director of development at Quest Tours & Adventures, a tour operator that specializes in Eastern Europe. "It is hard to keep up with the various hotels emerging all over the country. At the same time, existing properties are keeping up and upgrading, remodeling and refurnishing. Restaurants' menus are expanding, and they are more accommodating to the foreign tourists willing to experience the local cuisine."

A big part of current fascination with Romania is the country's complicated history, much of which converges in the capital city, the likely starting point of any Romania itinerary.

Bucharest dates to the 15th century, a nd remnants of the city's early beginnings can be found in the historical center, Lipscani. After falling into decay during the communist period, Lipscani has in the last several years been reborn as a commercial pedestrian district, offering some of the city's hippest bars, restaurants and shops.

Several neoclassical structures survived as well, including buildings such as the National Savings Bank and the Romanian Atheneum, both of which date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the city's planners emulated Parisian architecture.

Yet, paradoxically, some of the most awe-inspiring and simultaneously off-putting architecture are remnants of the communist era, not least of which the rows upon rows of soulless housing blocs that line the boulevards. Ceausescu's psyche and ego are perhaps best exhibited in a tour of Bucharest's Parliament Palace, or People's Palace, the largest building in the world by pure mass.

Today, the capital is abuzz with the latest wave of construction and investment, whether rehabilitating the city's older buildings or developing new construction to meet the demand of the country's burgeoning middle class.

Beyond Bucharest, Romania offers no shortage of medieval cities and towns to visit, such as Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu and Brasov, as well as a wealth of Eastern Orthodox churches, ranging vastly in age and architectural style. There is a respectable ski resort scene in the Carpathians as well as sunbathing opportunities on the Black Sea.

And, of course, there is the infamous Bran Castle, known as "Dracula's Castle," a popular tourist stop despite having only a negligible tie to Vlad the Impaler, the bloodthirsty ruler who inspired the Dracul a myth.

Tour operators and travel sellers, on the other hand, are looking for ways to introduce travelers to more of the country by offering insightful people-to-people interactions with Romania's Roma minority.

Along the way, travelers will be introduced to a cuisine that marries Mediterranean flavors with Slovak dishes, resulting in stuffed cabbage (sarmale), garlic-spiced grilled sausage (mititei), polenta (mamaliga), sweet bread-like cakes and doughnut-esque desserts.

The cuisine can be washed down with solid Romanian wines, including a native grape varietal, feteasca neagra (black maiden), that can compete with any bold red from nearby Italy or France. More serious drinkers can opt for the plum moonshine (tuica) or plum brandy (palinka) available in shocking quantities throughout the country.

As investments continue to pour into Romania and its infrastructure continues to develop, the country is sure to both gain and lose.

It will gain more modern amenities, convenient highways and perhaps even a high-speed rail system, which is said to be in the works. But as it becomes more similar to the rest of the European Union, which it joined in 2007, it will also lose some of its vintage charm.

"My trip last year, at times I totally forgot that I was in Romania," Dali said. "The more it opens up to tourists, the more it's going to lose that authenticity."

But, she acknowledged, the progress is necessary, and "in the next five to 10 years, it's going to become a better destination."

Indeed, over the next seven years, the country's tourism officials are aiming to increase the number of arrivals by 7.5%, which would amount to almost double the average growth of global tourism.

The tourism industry currently makes a direct contribution of about 3% to Romania's GDP and a total contribution, both direct and indirect, of about 5.5%. Over the next 10 years, the RNT O thinks that contribution can reach about 10%.

Romania is at that moment in time where one is tempted to suggest: Quick, go now, before Romania -- the real, old, crazy, amazing, frustrating, fascinating Romania ­-- is gone forever.

Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.