Rosu LUCIAN, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Ia?i, Faculty of Geography and Geology, , Romania
Corodescu-Rosca EMA, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Ia?i, Faculty of Geography and Geology, , Romania
Iatu CORNELIU, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Ia?i, Faculty of Geography and Geology, , Romania
Covid-19 is, undoubtedly, recognized as a game changer especially for tourism, this activity being at the forefront of severely disrupted industries. While most important international destinations have been strongly affected by pandemic restrictions (78% decline in 2020, easy recovery in 2021 worldwide), in Romania the impact was diminished by the large share of domestic number of tourists (85%). International reaction, especially researchers, have focused on the transformative opportunity of this crisis. Thus, destinations should not search only for recovery but rather rethink the tourism industry according to degrowth strategies. While, during different crises, tourism was seen as a resilient industry, this time, researchers argue that it should turn towards a more sustainable and responsible form of tourism.
Therefore, the present research aims at evaluating the extent of change produced by the pandemic in the rural tourist arrivals in Romania and how the destinations tend to adapted to the new normal. The methodological framework takes into consideration GIS computation of statistical data and tackles the transition towards a more responsible tourism using interviews with DMO’s managers.
The results are showing that Romania have been less affected by the pandemic, despite not being considered a resilient territory. Yet, the general pattern highlights a major impact on urban destinations and a fast recovery on rural destinations, which were less affected, due to the attractivity during pandemic.
However, the general feeling of DMO’s managers is that the territory needs to recover faster, and the current crisis will not substantially change the tourism sector, at least from the point of view of future management and planning.
In the light of the current situation, the touristic system of Romania is not yet prepared to go towards a more responsible tourism, as there is a missing link between theory and putting into practice forms of sustainable tourism.
Mots clés : responsible tourism|Tourism recovery|Pandemic tourism|Spatial analysis|Post-covid tourism strategies
A105052RL