<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>It has been shown that the development of tourism brings many benefits to the areas where this activity takes place (jobs, incomes for the community and for individuals, etc.), but it also has some shortcomings, such as the environmental degradation and the negative impact on local traditions. In order to stop these negative effects, the concept of sustainable development must be applied. This paper wants to identify the extent to which tourists are familiar with the term of „sustainability” and how they perceive the implementation of sustainable practices in the tourism sector in Romania. The research also wanted to reveal whether the application of sustainable development practices in this sector influenced tourists in choosing a specific economic agent. The authors have conducted a qualitative marketing research, and interviewed tourists who have used tourist services in Romania for the last 5 years. The research was based on the semi-structured depth interview method. The results show that most of the interviewees do not have a very clear idea about the concept of „sustainability” and that of the implementation of consistent practices in the hospitality industry. Therefore, they do not consider the application of these practices when choosing a certain economic agent for spending their free time. The results of this research can be the basis of some governmental and nongovernmental programs for educating potential tourists regarding the impact of tourism on the environment and the need for sustainable development of this sector. Also, these results can be useful to the economic operators in the tourism industry, to consider participating in the sustainable development of the sector and to take measures to promote the sustainable practices that they have applied.</p>
</abstract>

It has been shown that the development of tourism brings many benefits to the areas where this activity takes place (jobs, incomes for the community and for individuals, etc.), but it also has some shortcomings, such as the environmental degradation and the negative impact on local traditions. In order to stop these negative effects, the concept of sustainable development must be applied. This paper wants to identify the extent to which tourists are familiar with the term of „sustainability” and how they perceive the implementation of sustainable practices in the tourism sector in Romania. The research also wanted to reveal whether the application of sustainable development practices in this sector influenced tourists in choosing a specific economic agent. The authors have conducted a qualitative marketing research, and interviewed tourists who have used tourist services in Romania for the last 5 years. The research was based on the semi-structured depth interview method. The results show that most of the interviewees do not have a very clear idea about the concept of „sustainability” and that of the implementation of consistent practices in the hospitality industry. Therefore, they do not consider the application of these practices when choosing a certain economic agent for spending their free time. The results of this research can be the basis of some governmental and nongovernmental programs for educating potential tourists regarding the impact of tourism on the environment and the need for sustainable development of this sector. Also, these results can be useful to the economic operators in the tourism industry, to consider participating in the sustainable development of the sector and to take measures to promote the sustainable practices that they have applied.

Tourists’ vision about the implementation of sustainable development practices in the hospitality industry in Romania

Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

It has been shown that the development of tourism brings many benefits to the areas where this activity takes place (jobs, incomes for the community and for...

Tourists’ vision about the implementation of sustainable development practices in the hospitality industry in Romania

Published Online: Jul 27, 2020

Page range: 769 - 779

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2020-0073

Keywords
tourist, hospitality industriy, sustainable development, economic agents, qualitative research, education programms

© 2020 Anca Madar et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Tourists’ vision about the implementation of sustainable development practices in the hospitality industry in Romania

Published Online: Jul 27, 2020

Page range: 769 - 779

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2020-0073

Keywordstourist, hospitality industriy, sustainable development, economic agents, qualitative research, education programms

© 2020 Anca Madar et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
tourist, hospitality industriy, sustainable development, economic agents, qualitative research, education programms