Romanian spa tourism: a communist paradigm in a post communist era

Abstract

Spa tourism is one of the oldest forms of tourism which continuously evolved in time as the leisure industry paradigm and the consumers' behavior changed. Similar to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, spa tourism is an old phenomenon in Romania which expanded to the dimensions of a well defined tourism industry during the mass tourism period which also corresponded to the communism epoch. Although severely affected by the major political and socio-economic changes which occurred after the Revolution in 1989, this industry coexists with new emergent forms of tourism orienting, itself towards new dimensions embraced by the contemporary leisure consumerism (e.g. medical tourism, cosmetic treatments). Lying on considerable balneal and climate resources and displaying an important communist heritage both in physical terms (large and massive tourism structures) and in virtual and psychological terms (social supportive ticket granting system), Romanian spa tourism faces various challenges in the attempt to adapt in a new tourism era.

Stakeholder perspectives on climate change effects on tourism activities in the northern Romanian Carpathians: Vatra Dornei resort case study

“…Despite of the recent revival of its tourism market, the resort suffered an obvious decline of tourism arrivals after 1990 (Dincă, 2013). This is mainly explained by the dependency on an inert and declining social system inherited and maintained for balneal destinations in our country since the socialist epoch (Erdeli, Dincă, Gheorghilaş & Surugiu, 2011) which declined even more during recent recession years. On the other hand, modernized spa units and treatment structures lost the artificial protection of the above mentioned system and could not fill the demand gap in the context of a tough international and internal market competition.…”

“…At present Vatra Dornei is perceived as a complex destination for spa and winter sports as well as also for green ecotourism and active holidays. The last segment reflects new consumerism era trends in terms of recreation, owing the potential to rediscover and reinvent old spa locations in general and to rejuvenate spa tourism in this location in particular (Butler, 1980;Erdeli, Dincă, Gheorghilaş & Surugiu, 2011;Dincă, 2013).…”

Improving the Management of Environmental Resources by Increasing Occupancy Rate of Spas’ Capacity: A Case Study of Serbia

“…As it was estimated in 2008 [12], France, Bulgaria and Romania jointly provided some 60% of the supply in the spa and wellness subsector of the tourist industry in Europe. In Romania spa tourism the decrease in the number of arrivals and overnight in the period 1989-2005 lowered the occupancy rate from 73.2% in 1989 to 49.5% in 2005 affecting to a lower extend the hotel units, for which the occupancy rate decreased from 84.9% to 64.9% [13]. At the national level, in Hungary in 2011 the rate of decline in overnights was lower at the national level than at regional, and the average length of stay was shortened [14].…”

Strategic Analysis of the External and Internal Environment of Sport Tourism at the “Banja Vrućica” Spa

“…Spa tourism is one of the oldest types of tourism, originating in antiquity, which has evolved continuously and developed complex and various forms throughout different historical periods, under the influence of political and economic systems, on the one hand, and changes in social options and tourists' interests regarding this type of tourism, on the other [6]. In 2015, there were 121,595 spas that made a revenue of $77.6 billion and employed 2.1 million people [7].…”