Post-Accession Development of Tourism in Dobrogea’s Countryside

By its geographical location, Dobrogea’ rural area has a diversified tourism potential, provided by the contrasting natural environmental factors, from the oldest to the youngest relief units, natural protected areas, balneary resources and cultural, historical, religious sites, as well as by its multicultural local habits and traditions. The objective of the present paper is to make an analysis of tourism activity development, as alternative income source for the Dobrogean rural population in the period after Romania’s accession to the EU. For an increased relevance of the analysis, the information was obtained from national statistics, from governmental and non-governmental sources, as well as from articles and studies published in specialized journals. The obtained results demonstrated that tourism activities in Dobrogea’s rural area have experienced significant growth, contributing to the increase of rural population’s incomes, to job creation and diminution of rural-urban disparities.