A virtual, 3D version of Romania’s capital Bucharest will be the new city in the Internet-based recreation of the world, called Second Life.
Its hosts, the digital advertising agency Chase Corp., expect it to turn into a virtual tourist attraction, equal to the real city from the very begining, with about 7,000 visitors per day.

There are currently almost 50,000 Romanians who enter the country’s network in addition to many more who enter it from abroad, Aurei Tatu, manager of business development of  told national media.

Second Life, launched in 2003, is a virtual world created by its "residents" - people, who log in and "settle down", creating environment, entertainment and even market places. It acts as a social network service and enables its users to interact with each other through avatars. In addition, through a 3D modelling tool, Residents can build simple virtual objects.

According to statistics from 2007, about 30 per cent of the active users of the online service are American, but localised versions for non- English speaking users are also widespread outside of the US.

The Chase Corp. company spends about 30,000 euro a year for the technical maintenance of the virtual Bucharest project. In addition, according to media reports, it intends to create virtual versions of other tourist attractions in Romania, including the Danube Delta, the Bran Caste and the towns of Braşov, Cluj, Timişoara and Constanţa.

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