CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS FOR TOURISM IN ROMANIA

Tourism in Romania has witnessed in recent years a sinuous evolution marked to a great extent by a multitude of private initiatives and to a lesser extent by strategic coordination at governmental and regional level, respectively. The development of tourism is somewhat chaotic and unplanned, devoid of any inclusive, holistic vision concerning the correlation between transport infrastructure investments and investments in accommodation and tourist destinations. This led to a paradoxical situation in which areas with great tourism potential (e.g. the Danube Delta) are hardly accessible to foreign tourists/tourists from faraway regions. The attraction of such tourists is accomplished by primitive means, without any strategic thinking or appropriate planning. The authorities’ great disinterest and disengagement notwithstanding, Romania as a tourist destination possesses some major advantages stemming from its high potential for development in various directions. Entire tourism sectors (spa-based, mountain, cultural tourism etc.) are not yet exploited at maximum capacity while tourism initiatives undertaken by various entities are not sufficiently developed. In this paper, the authors attempt to highlight the main strategic development directions of tourism in Romania, pointing to Romania’s major advantages as a tourist destination and drawing attention to the primary courses of action that must carefully be considered by decision makers in developing a viable tourism strategy.