Ecotourism in Romania

Abstract

Ecotourism, a component of sustainable development, is also known as “green” tourism, “soft”
tourism or “gentle” tourism in the sense that this form of tourism, with a wide range of activities, takes place in
rural areas (programs, circuits, sports, tourist facilities and equipment, etc.), has the lowest implications in the
degradation and pollution of natural ecosystems, natural and national parks, biosphere reserves, nature reserves.
The World Tourism Organization (WTO) recommends, in the first instance, the development of this form of
tourism in protected areas, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Similar Resources
(IUCN) stated in 1992 that „ecotourism is the segment of tourism that involves traversing natural areas,
relatively undisturbed, to admire the landscape and enjoy the world of plants and wildlife. In a narrower sense,
ecotourism is based on nature observation, offering distinct tourism products, specific to the forms of cultural,
scientific, tourism research, being practiced in countries with remarkable biodiversity, which have nature
reserves, national parks and local communities that kept their customs and traditions unchanged. In ecotourism,
the space is viewed in two ways, namely: quantitatively, by the „receiving ability of the territory” that can be
natural or man-made and qualitatively, by activity or by the tourist value of the territory, natural or created. Both
sides of the approach are part of the global policy of sustainable tourism development. Such a tourism policy
aims to ensure an ecological, economic, socio-cultural functioning based on a rational and efficient use of
resources.