“The main goal for Oradea is to become a more connected, competitive, smarter city with a well performing educational system, public services and quality tourism,” Has says. The EIB has been helping the city to achieve these goals since 2008.
Romania urban development helps residents and businesses
Since 2015, the Bank has supported the city with loans worth EUR 57.6 million aimed at transport infrastructure and urban development, with projects such as the improvement of local roads and amenities to increase the city’s tourism attractiveness and quality of life. The upgrading of Oradea’s urban infrastructure will have significant socio-economic benefits for the residents and businesses of the city and surrounding areas.
The city has experienced an average 17% increase in the number of visitors per year since 2015. “The Bank financed important roads in the city, as well as a public garden and an aqua park, which led to an increase in tourism,” Has said. In 2017 more than 225,000 people visited the city. “Most of our visitors are Romanian,” said Mihai Jurcă, the municipal official overseeing the city’s marketing, “but gradually we are being rediscovered by Germans, Italians and Austrians.”
The aqua park has been a massive success. In its first year, it attracted over 300,000 visitors.