PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPA TOURISM IN ROMANIA

Abstract

Spa tourism has become a major sector of the international tourism market, which generates an increase in functional complexity at the level of local systems. Through an effective management policy and an appropriate marketing policy, this type of tourism can bring significant economic benefits with a positive impact on the territorial systems that have spa resources. Through the present study, we have proposed a diagnosis of the territorial systems that have important spa resources, at the level of the Romanian regions, based on statistical data offered by the National Institute of Statistics, National House of Public Pensions, as well as on economic data at territorial administrative unit level, with the main economic indicators. The methodology is based on the analysis of the two categories of statistical data on tourism, more specifically, those aimed on the evolution of available accommodation capacity, those targeting tourist flows (arrivals and overnight stays), data on the evolution of treatment tickets and data with the main economic indicators from the tourism sector. The obtained results show significant differences between spa resorts in Romania, differences determined by the level of investments made for both basic and tourist infrastructure.