Bucharest has all the ingredients to become a city with a strong identity in Europe, and urban development is not only about administration, but about vision, cooperation and the ability to turn potential into performance, President of the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB) Iuliu Stocklosa said on Wednesday at the 8th edition of the FOCUS Bucharest conference.

'Bucharest has all the ingredients to become a city with a strong identity in Europe. This is, in fact, the message of this year's FOCUS Bucharest edition: urban development is not only about administration. It means vision, cooperation and the ability to turn potential into performance,' Stocklosa said at the opening of the event organised by the CCIB.

According to him, the capital is no longer just a destination for business tourism.

'In recent years, the capital has also established itself increasingly in the cultural tourism and city break segment. More and more tourists are visiting Bucharest for the overall urban experience: architecture, gastronomy, events, heritage and cultural life. In 2025, the capital recorded approximately two million arrivals in accommodation establishments and over four million overnight stays. Last year, Bucharest ranked second nationally in terms of tourist arrivals, after Constanta, surpassing traditional destinations such as Brasov,' the CCIB president underscored.

He believes that Bucharest is still below the level of visibility of other European cities, 'not because it has fewer resources, but because there is not enough coherence in promotion and development.' This is despite the fact that European cities dominating the rankings, such as Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam and Istanbul, invest consistently, have a strategy, have a city brand, organise city-related events and make use of their heritage.

For this reason, tourism infrastructure must be included in major urban development plans and not treated marginally, as high-quality tourism in the capital means a complete urban experience.

In the view of the CCIB president, there is a need to operationalise and better promote thematic tourist routes such as: interwar Bucharest and the Art Deco heritage, to better capitalise on the Dambovita area and to improve the integration of the events calendar with the city's tourism offer.

Speaking about deteriorated buildings and the need for their rehabilitation, Stocklosa said that potential investors face administrative blockages and a lack of real incentives for restoration, and that there is a need for an integrated project to enhance heritage buildings, developed through public-private partnership, following models that have proven viable in other European capitals.

According to him, there is a need for incentives to attract new investors and to encourage the development of creative industries and those generating high added value.

The Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organising on Wednesday the 8th edition of the FOCUS Bucharest conference, an annual debate and solutions event dedicated to the development of the capital.

The 2026 edition, themed 'From potential to performance: Tourism, Infrastructure and Historical Heritage in the Capital,' focuses on urban tourism in direct connection with historical heritage and visitor infrastructure and aims to move from analysis to concrete solutions.

The conference gathers representatives of central and local public administration, the business community and professional organisations in tourism, culture, hospitality and infrastructure, alongside entrepreneurs and experts interested in the development of Bucharest.

Among the confirmed speakers are Stelian Bujduveanu, Deputy Mayor of Bucharest, Diana-Stefana Baciuna, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Oana Zaharia, interim manager of the National Heritage Institute, Emil Ivanescu, President of the Bucharest branch of the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), Alin Grigore, Director General of the General Tourism Directorate within the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEDAT), Andrei Dinculescu Bighea, Director General of S.T.B. SA, Simona Constantinescu, President of the Federation of the Romanian Hotel Industry (FIHR), and Cristian Barhalescu, President of the National Association of Travel Agencies of Romania (ANAT). AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Rodica State)