Abstract:

The paper aimed to analyze the concentration in Romania's agro-tourism using the empirical data provided by the National Institute of Statistics for the period 2007-2016. Four main indicators characterizing agro-tourism were taken into consideration: number of guest houses, number of places, tourist arrivals and overnight stays. They have been analyzed in their dynamics at the national level and also in the territory in the 8 regions of development. Herfindhal-Hirschman Index (HHI), Gini-Struck Coefficient (GSC) and Concentration Coefficient (CC) were used to evaluate the concentration in Romania's agro-tourism. The results proved that HHI values ranged between 0.2 and 03 reflecting a "moderate concentration" of agro-tourism in terms of guest houses, places, tourist arrivals and overnight stays. GSC values were higher than 0.3 and in a few cases over 0.4, confirming a "relative concentration" of agro-tourism. CC values exceeded 0.3 and in few cases 0.4, reflecting a "relative concentration". As a conclusion, there is a moderate to relative concentration of agro-tourism in Romania. There are differences among the eight regions of development, the Central, North East and North West regions concentrating over 71 % of the number of guest houses and places, and over 74% of tourists and overnight stays. However, all the regions, of Romania make continuous efforts to develop agro-tourism for promoting the beauty of the landscapes, the historical and cultural heritage, for assuring the economic development of the local communities, for raising the living standard of the rural population and for better satisfying tourists' demand.