Abstract:

The paper analyzed the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Romanian tourism seasonality in the seaside and mountain resorts in the year 2020 versus 2019. The data on tourist arrivals were provided by National Institute of Statistics and were processed using descriptive statistics, fixed and structural indices, seasonality indicators and Gini concentration coefficient. In 2020, Romania recorded 6.3 million tourist arrivals, by 53% less than in 2019. Over 1 million arrivals were in the seaside and 1.72 million in the mountain resorts. Compared to 2019, the loss was only 37% in the seaside and 51% in the mountain resorts. Of total arrivals, Romanians represented 93% at the country level, 86% in the seaside and 78% in the mountain resorts. The values of CV% reflected a higher variation of arrivals in 2020 versus 2019 caused by the restriction measures mainly in March and April, the most critical months for tourism. The peaks were registered in August. Summer and also winter vacations saved tourism. Seasonality indicator, intensity, range and Gini concentration index (GCI) were higher in 2020 versus 2019. GCI values reflected a low seasonality at the country level, a moderate seasonality in the seaside and a low seasonality in the mountains. In 2021, tourism industry have to develop a more flexible strategy focused on tourists' high demand for open-air and nature-based destinations like seaside and mountain resorts.