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The Impact of Tourism on Sustainable Development of Rural Areas: Evidence from Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu

    (Center for Interdisciplinary Research in European Studies, Faculty of Law, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, Iași 700506, Romania)

  • Oana Mihaela Stoleriu

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Iași 700506, Romania)

  • Alina Munteanu

    (Research Department, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Iași 700506, Romania)

  • Corneliu Iațu

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Iași 700506, Romania)

Abstract

Rural tourism has been seen during the last decades as a means for economic development of sensitive localities, especially in rural areas. However, little research has been conducted on the sustainability of the development induced by tourism activities in rural areas, and even so, with contradictory results. Our paper investigated how tourism impacted on the sustainable development of rural localities, focusing on three composite indexes: demographic stability, public utilities, and socio-economic sustainability. Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine the differences on each of the above-mentioned indexes between the rural localities with tourist arrivals and those without. The results showed that there is a significant positive effect of tourism on rural areas translated into higher values of all the indexes analyzed. This study brings valuable contributions to both academics and policy-makers: on one hand, it provides new insights into the impact of tourism activities; on the other hand, it offers valuable information to decisional actors regarding development strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu & Oana Mihaela Stoleriu & Alina Munteanu & Corneliu Iațu, 2018. "The Impact of Tourism on Sustainable Development of Rural Areas: Evidence from Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3529-:d:173107
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