A Multidimensional Approach on Economic and Social Security as Prerequisite for Tourism Development

The concept of economic and social security is very complex, and it is related to the challenges to synchronize the positive interaction between its two components. A stable economic and social context is very important for all economic sectors, tourism being one of the most affected sectors as willing to travel is closely connected to these aspects. Economic uncertainty and unsafe economic and social context seriously affect the expansion of tourism industry, no matter the attractiveness of the country or region. Taking into account the international context, economic security can be analysed in terms of access to resources and the decision-making process, with effect on achieving temporary or permanent advantages for different countries regarding bargaining power, as well as control over markets or resources. The complexity of the concept of economic security requires separate approaches for its different dimensions, being closely related to social aspects. We have identified five relevant dimensions/pillars interacting with economic and social aspects: demographic, globalization and technology, respectively, environment and, based on a set of relevant indicators for each of them, we propose a composite index of economic and social security for countries in Euro-Atlantic space (50 countries).