Chasing a brand

This month’s gratitude email is a special one.

We’re midway in our celebratory year, the one marking 10 years since we started Beyond Dracula with the idea to show Romania to travelers who wanted to discover it.

This idea was simple enough that without any experience in the travel industry and none building and running a business, I got it.
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It made sense.
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Ultimately, the goal was to put Romania on the map as a travel destination.
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I’ve done things intuitively and one step at a time.
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After our first clients came in 2014, a business was officially born.
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In early 2017, we put the last money in the company; since then it stands on its own feet and survived Covid and the war in Ukraine. (that’s 3 whole years with hardly any business)
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Aside from reaching financial goals which, in my view, help create a company with a better team and processes, I took time to think about the next decade.
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Figuring out how to sell bespoke trips in a destination that no one aspires to visit and often doesn’t know about has been the best way to develop our creativity, problem-solving skills, and confidence.
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It is an extraordinary ride.

So what next? What’s the next big goal to chase?

Drum roll… figuring out the brand for Romania.

Travelers, agents, the world, have either no association with Romania or associations which are often 30 or more years old.

(Nadia Comaneci winning the first perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal is one)

With everyone’s help, we want to figure out Romania’s brand.

What’s unique about Romania? What’s true when looking back, in the present and future?

Milena, this is both scary and exciting. It’s like staring at a blank canvas. Promoting the unpromoted.

You can help. Anything you can share that’s related to Romania is a piece of the puzzle.

From where we stand, to figure out the brand, we just have to keep doing what we are doing: research the destination looking for unique and authentic experiences and welcome travelers to discover Romania so we can then learn about their impressions.

Ten more years of this and we should have a better idea of what Romania’s brand is. Don’t you think?

But more importantly, are you in for the next 10 years?

Let us know.
Raluca

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P.S. I started writing about this process on Substack. If you want to have a look or even subscribe, go here.

P.P.S. Are you ready for the first episode from our Saxon Villages series? Here it is.