Before referring to marketing recommendations, one must first point out towards the fact that Romania (1) lacks a true branding campaign, such as the ones that Spain, Finland or even Bulgaria have undergone during the past years and (2) because it has no branding policies to promote its values abroad and make positive connections in foreigners' minds with Romania, the first things that a foreigner will be able to say about Romania are related to thieves, Ceausescu or the stray dogs in Bucharest.

             Starting with the latter, the best example in this sense is Bucharest. Cliche associations that come to mind are "the stray dogs, the stupid architecture, the Pyongyang comparisons, the metro stations without any signs, the fact that few of its own citizens, when asked for directions, can give accurate information"1. On the other hand, Bucharest ha wonderful parks and gardens, as well as excellent food at reasonable prices, savoured with good quality local wine and a decent nightlife. As in any marketing scheme, these are actually the qualities that should be brought forward, while trying to overshadow those that you are not content with. This will be further discussed when referring to the actual marketing approaches.

             Moving to the subsequent level, the Romanian authorities have not yet succeeded to change the image the foreigners tend to have of Romania. Unfortunately, foreigners seem to be divided into two separate categories in this case. The first category mistakes Bucharest for Budapest (it's somewhere in the same area and they sound so alike, don't they?), occasionally place Romania somewhere in the Middle East or maybe even in Africa and have no clue of any other element related to Romania.

             This is definitely a brand problem. For example, some countries managed to achieve a notoriety that is often related only to the name. Finland, for example, is the country of the 20,000 lakes.