Developing an Indicator-Based Framework to Measure Sustainable Tourism in Romania. A Territorial Approach

Abstract

Sustainable tourism is gaining importance in national agendas to encourage economic growth, social inclusion, and the protection of cultural and natural assets. More than 13 million tourists (10.6 mil. Romanians and 2.6 mil. foreigners) visited Romania in 2019, the fifth consecutive year of growth for the tourism sector. The authors have selected 10 statistical indicators to highlight the main components for tourism sustainability by using the principal component analysis (PCA). The current patterns of sustainable development of tourism and the territorial inequalities at a micro-scale were assessed based on a sustainable tourism index (STI). In addition, to observe the way indicators interact and determine each other and to analyze the territorial disparities, the hierarchical ascending classification was used. The study was performed using the statistical data available at NUTS5/LAU level provided by the National Institute of Statistics. In addition, various data and information extracted from documents published by the UNWTO, National Institute for Research and Development in Tourism, the World Bank, EUROSTAT, etc., were also used. By applying an STI, the authors were able to assess the tourism development level at a national scale in Romania, delineating the most advantaged/disadvantaged areas. The analysis of sustainable tourism in Romania shows that tourism performance is more consolidated in the big cities, the Black Sea coast, the Danube Delta and the Carpathian Mountains. Studies such as the present one are meant to provide a methodological framework that will be useful to perform a quantitative assessment of the sustainable level of tourism development in terms of economic, social and environmental performance.

Longitudinal Analysis of Sustainable Tourism Potential of the Black Sea Riparian States Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey

“…Tourism performance only exists in the big cities, on the Black Sea coast, in the Danube Delta and the Carpathians. Poor promotion led to the insufficient development of the tourism sector and to deficient legislation, especially for ecotourism, where sustainability depends on human potential, protected areas, the level of tourism, the degree of occupancy of accommodation spaces, population employed in tourism, the quality of accommodation spaces (drinking water and gas supply networks), road accessibility, and the quality of transport infrastructure [ 75 ]. All of these shortcomings have placed Romania in an inferior position in comparison to Turkey and Bulgaria in terms of tourism development.…”

Youth’s perception toward ecotourism as a possible model for sustainable use of local tourism resources

“…In the 2 years of pandemic, tourists who visited Romania preferred rural pensions and agritourism pensions (Popescu and Plesoianu, 2021) for the security offered, lower risk of infection, quality of services, and convenient prices. At the same time, the implementation of the National Ecotourism Strategy (Celac and Vadineanu, 2018) will contribute to the integration of ecotourism and rural tourism into the "green economy" and "green marketing" (Nistoreanu et al, 2020;Dragomir and Mazilu, 2021), although in Romania there is no regulation in national legislation to make the "green labeling" of tourist structures with accommodation function (Mitrică et al, 2021). The green tourism economy involves the selection of environmentally responsible accommodation facilities, which pay special attention to "green" purchases, "green" labeling, and the responsible economy (Trišić et al, 2021).…”

COVID-19 Pandemic and Local Cultural Tourism in the Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpathians (Romania)

“…The Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpathians are a blend of scenic natural landscapes and rich history valorised through cultural heritage sites, traditional customs and identity items: gastronomy, fairs and markets, religious sites, museums, wine routes, etc. The diversified cultural potential is marked by the presence of the Buzău Land Geopark, Natura 2000, and Siriu and Penteleu sites, integrating an important part of the mountainous area of the study area [ 62 ], which set up the unitary conception of development of cultural tourism, among other types of tourism, which capitalized on the two functions of these sites, that is, the protective function on the one hand, and the tourism function, on the other hand.…”