Research on the tourist traffic in protected areas in Romania

Abstract

Ecotourism has been gaining popularity in recent times as more people are embracing the preservation of nature. Most countries are implementing laws to preserve natural habitats and other countries are practising a forestation in a bid to restore their lost nature. Romania is a country that is blessed with natural capital and is open to ecotourism. Over the years, Romania has been host to tourists from different countries, especially the European countries, who visit mostly to enjoy the eco tourist destinations of Romania. This research aimed to study the tourist traffic in protected areas in Romania and how they can be improved in order to generate further income for the Romanian tourism sector. This research made use of secondary data that were retrieved from the Association of Ecotourism Romania and the National Institute for Research and Development in Tourism. This research found out that most of the visitors to the Romanian tourist sites were the indigenes. However, tourists from different countries were more involved in ecotourism than the indigenes. At the end of this article, recommendations are made on how tourist traffic can be increased by the Romanian tourism department.

Keywords: Ecotourism, protected area, ecosystems, nature.