Use of Tourism Intensity Indicators for Delimitation in European Union Countries

Purpose: This article aims to distinguish homogeneous groups of European Union countries by tourist intensity in 2000 and 2019. Design/Methodology/Approach: An econometric diagnostic process was used to create the EU country rankings. The empirical distribution of tourism intensity measures in the countries studied was taken as the observed regularity. The normative regularity was determined according to the shape of the distribution of the measures in the studied collective. On this basis, the remaining elements of the diagnosis process were determined, and a combined diagnosis of tourism intensity for the EU countries was formulated. Findings: Analysis of the averages of the sub-diagnoses showed that in both 2000 and 2019, only two countries (Malta and Cyprus) were in group one – the best from the point of view of the phenomenon under study. In 2019, the number of countries in group two decreased and the group of countries that were at best average increased. There was also an emergence of group four, in which only Romania qualified. Practical Implications: The method presented in the article is useful in the process of diagnosis and discrimination of objects. It provides the possibility of unambiguous diagnosis in the case of one assessment criterion (indicator) at a given moment of time and combined diagnosis according to several assessment criteria (multiple indicators). Originality/Value: This article contributes to recent European and global scientific discussions on the need for tourism research.