Romanian Rural Tourism: A Survey Of Accommodation Facilities

The modern type of rural tourism emerged during the 1970s and the 1980s (Lane & Kastenholz 2015). The rural tourism concept amalgamates different types of tourism that overlap and intertwine. It is largely agreed that rural tourism can assist the rural areas’ restructuring path mainly if its introduction rather complement the existing activities and is incorporated in the local economies and social structures. Since 1995 rural tourism was identified by Romanian authorities also as a major growth area that can address social and cultural inequalities. The present paper shows the growth of rural accommodation facilities over a decade (2005 and 2016). The survey also presents the spatial distribution of rural accommodations pointing toward a decrease in the uneven geographical distribution of rural lodgings through the entry on the rural tourist market of new localities. Furthermore, this research study reveals the diversification of rural accommodation portfolio regarding the type of accommodation, the ranking/classification of the respective lodgings and the lodging capacity. In addition, the paper draws the profile of rural accommodation facilities at national and regional levels, presenting the dominant type of accommodation units, the dominant classification and the dominant lodging capacity. The information is completed by the growth rate of lodgings and rooms and by the standing of rural accommodation in each county and region. Romania’s rural tourism reached this growth phase, thus it is difficult to evaluate how advanced the growth phase is. There is still an unexploited potential that can support further expansion. While the further development is expected to bring an increase in the number of localities reporting accommodation, it is also expected that an increase in quality of services and facilities along with a wider range of entertainment activities based on innovation should occur.