Issues of European tourism industry have become to the fore in recent years, partly as a result of political and economic moves towards increasing European integration and unity. Having into consideration these facts, we propose in this article to analyzetourism, sustainable development, European challenges

Frunza Ramona

Pascariu Gabriela Carmen

English

Research Papers in Economics

293 
 
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 
IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT 
 
Frunză Ramona 
University “Al. I. Cuza” Iasi The Center of European Studies Adress: Street Carol I, no. 11 E-
mail: ramonafrunza@yahoo.com Tel.: 0745/455305 
Pascariu Gabriela Carmen 
University “Al. I. Cuza” Iasi, The Center of European Studies Adress: Street Carol I, no. 11 E-
mail: gcpas@uaic.ro Tel.: 0740/237969 
 
Issues of European tourism industry have become to the fore in recent years, partly as a result of political 
and economic moves towards increasing European integration and unity. Having into consideration these 
facts,  we  propose  in  this  article  to  analyze  the  importance  of  the  tourism  industry  in  the  sustainable 
development process and to see how peoples choose to spend their holidays in different places of the 
world, in function of the some factors that assure a sustainable tourism. 
Keywords: tourism, sustainable development, European challenges 
JEL Classification: A0, O1, Q5, Z0 
 
1. The connection between tourism and sustainable development 
In time, the concept of sustainable development has witnessed many attempts to define but it 
seems  interesting  that  the  Brundtland  Commission  that  says:  ,,  the  essence  of  sustainable 
development is the way we must organize ourselves so as to consume land resources to satisfy 
our own needs and aspirations so as to not compromise the expectations of future generations to 
satisfy at the turn their needs”
162.  
We believe that sustainable development is a very dynamic concept with many dimensions and 
interpretations, seen as a permanent process of change, very connected to the local area needs and 
priorities. The fact that many professionals do not need a single definition of this concept leads 
naturally to an awareness that no matter how we define, the problem is the same and is called: the 
need to ensure a sustainable future to the world peoples and to the planet Earth. To achieve this 
goal there must be a broad international cooperation, a very careful management of the process, 
political implication and much dedication. In short, all these involve the changing of behaviors of 
individuals so as to contribute of an economic growth based on sustainable development. Active 
involvement of people can be realized:  
  - Acting for poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and 
production,  protection  and  management  of  natural  resources  for  economic  and  social 
development;  
  -  Promoting  dialogue  and  cooperation,  regardless  of  race,  illness,  religion,  language, 
culture and tradition;  
                                                       
162 In terms of this definition, paraphrase, in short - for a clearer understanding - a variant of The Fable of 
the Golden Duck, of Aesop. Under it, once was a poor farmer that could hardly maintain his numerous 
family. He prayed constantly for help and in a night his prayers has brought an answer through a dream. It 
said that the next morning he will have to go to the village and to buy the first duck that he will see and if 
he take care of it, it will make every day a golden egg which will benefit his children and descendants. The 
next morning, the poor farmer went to market as instructed in the dream and went home first duck that has 
seen it in the market. In the second morning, to his great joy, he found near the duck a gold egg, small and 
brilliant. The same thing happened the next morning. The farmer was now quite rich and happy but soon 
began to be envious of the village chief who was richer than him. So, he wanted to become the richerest 
with the help of his duck. He had forced the duck, successfully, to make two eggs every morning and then 
even three. But soon, the exhausted duck has died. The duck from this story is undoubtedly the generous 
benefits of natural resources. If we use them as required by sustainable development, without avarice, they 
will satisfy our needs without compromising the ability of survivors and satisfy their needs. 294 
 
  - Acting for stable partnerships with all major groups, respecting the independent roles of 
each of them;  
  - Providing assistance and participating in programs of sustainable development. 
So, the human resources can contribute to the sustainable development process if they acting on 
the directions set out above. A very important sector that should be taken some measures in this 
regard  is  the  tourism.  This  is  a  rapidly  developing  sphere  of  human  activity,  reflecting  the 
changing economic and social conditions which underlie modern views of individual freedom of 
expressions  through  consumer  choice,  and  the  new  technologies  of  transport  and  data 
communications which make it possible for large number of people to spend their leisure in 
distant places.  
All these changes present both opportunities and challenges for the tourism industry. Five key 
issues or challenges can be identified from the literature
163: 
  -The  need  to  get  more  accurate  and  uniform  statistics  on  the  size  and  economic 
contributions   of tourism; 
  -Pressure to compete more effectively with other recreational and entertainment options. 
This   is  particularly  a  challenge  for  many  small  and  medium  enterprises  that  make  up  a 
substantial   part of the tourism industry in many destinations; 
  -The need to deal with increasing diversity amongst tourists. We refer here to the fact 
that the  markets for tourism will become increasingly diverse in terms of cultural backgrounds, 
age,   family structures and experience, creating challenges for the development of products 
and the  management of the interaction between tourists and hosts and tourists and other tourists; 
  -The need to ensure that infrastructure development and maintenance keep pace with 
growing   demand.  We  mention  that,  in  this  case,  infrastructure  refers  not  just  to  the 
transport systems   and built facilities, but also to the training and education of the human 
resources of tourism; 
  -The  need  to  ensure  sustainable  tourism  development.  This  becomes  a  dominant 
philosophy,   with the preservation of social and environmental assets and the well-being of 
the host   community becoming primary objectives. Hunter C. introduced four different 
approaches to   sustainable development based on the four types of sustainability
164: 
 
Table no.1 
Types of sustainability 
in tourism 
Characteristics: 
Very  weak 
sustainability  type  or 
tourism  imperative 
scenario 
Status: tourism at its early stages 
Criteria: tourism activities do not generate more degradation  
Benefits:  tourism  is  an  alternative  form  of  development;  creates  more 
employment; increase environmental protection  
Costs: creates certain antagonistic impacts 
Weak  sustainability 
type  or  product-led 
tourism scenario 
Status: tourism is developed  
Criteria: sustain tourism activities and develop new products 
Benefits:  improvement  of  the  local  economy  and  employment;  assist 
preservation  practices  of  surrounding  destinations;  expansion  and 
diversification of tourism planning 
Costs: conserve only existing infrastructure and products.  
Strong  sustainability 
type  or  environment-led 
Status: tourism at its early stages 
Criteria: environmental management utilization 
                                                       
163  Faulkner,  B.,  Moscardo,  G.  and  Laws,  E.,  Tourism  in  the  twenty  first  century.  Lessons  from 
experience, Cromwell Press, London, 2001, p. 30. 
164 Hunter, C., Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm, in Knowles Tim, Diamantis Dimitrios and 
Bey  El-Mourhabi  Joudallah,  The  globalization  of  tourism  and  hospitality:  a  strategic  perspective, 
Cromwell Press, London, 2001, pp. 115-116. 295 
 
tourism scenario  Benefits:  environmental  quality;  economic  and  employment  growth; 
specialized tourism destination 
Costs: Only in circumstances lacking focus and commitment 
Very  strong 
sustainability  type  or 
neotenous  tourism 
scenario 
Status: Tourism at its exploitation and involvement stages 
Criteria: Absolute preservation of resources 
Benefits:  Protection  of  renewable  and  non-renewable  resources;  long-term 
environmental attractivity 
Costs: tourism growth is limited; tourism development is sacrificed in cases 
where  other  sectors  employ  better  environmental  practices;  tourism 
development is abolished to minimize generation of negative environmental 
impacts. 
Source: adapted after Hunter, C., 2001 
 
Analyzing  the  table,  we  can  observe  that  the  tourism  sustainability  depends  by  the  efforts 
submited, by the degree of involvement of the empowered organismes (private and public), the 
adoption  and  application  of  appropriate  legislation  and  regulations  necessary  for  tourism 
development,  the  taking  of  measures  that  protect  the  environment,  efficient  and  systematic 
financing of tourism projects, attracting investments from the private sector to develop tourist 
facilities and services (by providing investment incentives to attract these investments), training 
staff  and  improving  all  tourist  activities  -  human  resources  development  in  tourism,  the 
involvement  of  local  communities  in  tourism  development,  tourism  marketing  and  tourism 
promotion efficiency for all regions and for private firms, an effective and sustained management 
of the tourism sector. Of the four scenarios of tourism described in Table no.1, we consider that 
the last, which refers to a very strong sustainability type of tourism (neotenous tourism scenario) 
is the most desirable in any European country and not only. 
In the context of sustainable development, tourism finds its natural place, bringing to the fore the 
idea of satisfying the needs of tourists and tourism industry, closely related to the environment 
protection and to the opportunities for the future. Sustainable tourism involves optimal use of 
resources (including biological diversity) , minimizing the negative impact of economic, socio-
cultural and ecological,  maximizing the benefits on the local communities, national economies 
and on the conservation of the nature. As a consequence, sustainability refers to the structures 
and  management  to  fulfill  these  goals.  The  goal  of  achieving  sustainable  tourism  must  be 
subordinated to national and regional plans for economic and social development. 
 
2. The tourism among Europeans 
The sustainable tourism indisputably contributes to the economic development of any state. But 
to have him, should respect some exigencies (we talking here primarily by an offering to tourists 
of  impeccable  conditions,  the  existence  of  a  clean  environment,  etc.).  In  this  direction,  the 
European Commission had realized for the year 2009 a report (Eurobarometer)
165. To find the 
oppinions of the population, it was adreess some questions like: 
 
Grafic 1. Will you have the necessary financial resources  
to be able to afford to take your planned holidays in 2009? 
   
                                                       
165 ***Eurobarometer, European Commission, (2009),  Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards 
tourism. Analytical Report . 296 
 
 
Grafic 2. Which are the factors that 
determine you to choose a destination? 
 
Source: Eurobarometer, 2009 
 
The number of persons from Romania who answered at questionaire was 675. We observe in the 
graphic 1 that a great part of repondents need to make extra savings for be to able to afford to 
take  their  planned  holidays  in  2009  (45,8%),  and  6,9%  don’t  have  the  necessary  financial 
resources for this thing.  
Another  result  of  the  Eurobarometer  refers  to  the  factors  that  determine  the  choosing  of  a 
destination. The questionaire was applied to 1726 persons from the EU. So, when deciding on 
holiday  destinations,  most  Europeans  named  the  location’s  environment  (e.g.  its  overall 
attractiveness)  as  the  key  consideration  (31%).  Cultural  heritage  (24%)  and  the  options  for 
entertainment (15%) were the second and third most widespread responses in regard to factors 
that influenced a choice of destination. These three categories dominated the responses in each 
Member State; the rest of the listed attractions were considered as having a major influence on 
holiday decisions by significantly fewer Europeans (gastronomy: 7%, arts: 5%, festivals, events: 
5%). Eight percent cited other reasons and 6% had nothing to say. 
An  interesting  question  of  the  study  sounds  like:  ,,During  2008,  how  many  times  have  you 
travelled for business or private purposes where you were away from home for a minimum of one 
night? Did you make a trip in 2007 where you were away from home for a minimum of one 
night?%” 
 
 
 
22,9
45,8
6,9
16,9
7,5
0
10
20
30
40
50
31%
24%
15%
7% 5% 5%
8%
6%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%297 
 
Graphic 3         Making travel among European citizens (%) 
 
 
Source: Eurobarometer, 2009 
Analyzing the answers of the European populations (from EU 27), we see that almost nine out of 
10 Swedes and Finns (88% and 87%, respectively), and 84% of Dutch, Irish and Luxembourgers 
had travelled at least once during 2008. In Hungary, on the other hand, only 45% of citizens had 
made a trip during that period. Other countries at the lower end of the distribution were Romania 
(51%),  Portugal  (52%),  Malta  (53%),  Bulgaria  (54%),  Latvia  (56%)  and  Slovakia  (58%). 
Hungary and Portugal (44% and 37%, respectively) had the highest proportion of interviewees 
who had not made any trips in 2007 or 2008. In Sweden and Finland, the share of non-travellers 
was 6% or less. The proportion of respondents who had not travelled in 2008, but who had made 
at least one trip in 2007 ranged from 5% in Finland to 13% in Romania and Malta. 
In Romania, the number of trips is the lowest in Europe because in not promote a sustainable 
tourism.  To  can  speak  about  a  sustainable  tourism  we  should  elaborate  a  set  of  strategic 
objectives which relate to: the encouraging of an tourism favorable of a sustainable local tourism 
through the involvement of local resources, the predominant participation of local actors, the 
support of the SME sector, the correlation of the development of transport with the sustainable 
tourism, the stimulation of the market segments that correspond to sustainability (whose behavior 
and motivations put accent on the repectation of the cultural, social, ecological values of the 
receiver space), the adoption of a system of indicators for evaluating the sustainability of tourism 
in the receiver regions, preventing and reducing the territorial and ecological impact of tourism 
by reducing sezonaliy, territorial planning, the adoption of some appropriate instruments for the 
reduction  of  the  territorial  disparities,  the  promotion  of  a  responsible  tourism  by  improving 
access to tourism, the stimulation of new behavior of production and consumption, the improving 
training and the level of life of workers in travel, etc
166. 
All these objectives wish to materialize a model of tourism development, that to answer of the 
needs  of  tourists  and  receiving  regions,  preserving  and  improving  the  chances  of  the  future 
generations by access to tourism. These can be achieved through an interaction between public 
and  private  institutions,  providers  of  tourism  and  population.  We  believe  that  the  most 
appropriate system for sustainable tourism development, especially in regions in development, is 
represented by the public and private partnership. In the use of public-private partnerships as a 
                                                       
166 Pascariu, G.C., (2006), Evolutii si tendinte in turismul international. Fluxuri, piete, politici (Evolution 
and trends in international tourism. Flows, markets, policies), Sedcom Libris Publishing House, Iasi, p. 
190. 298 
 
way of promoting sustainable development is necessary to respect the following principles
167: the 
application of an integrated management system of the quality of destination, the conservation of 
the  originality  and  authenticity  of  destination,  the  ensuring  of  an  equilibrium  between  the 
economic, social and environmental objectives, the precaution and the prevention in the adoption 
of decisions, the reporting at the trends in the evolution of behaviors and of markets, the reporting 
to the permanent interests of tourists and the implementing of a strategy to stabilize the target 
markets, the information, the cooperation and the transparency, the improving of the free market 
mechanisms. 
 
Conclusions 
Human resource development in tourism industry should be a priority to offer quality services 
expected by the tourist market and requires a systematic approach to the design needs of staff and 
establishing ways of training necessary to provide qualified personnel both in the public sector 
and in the private. It is also essential to use techniques and methods of marketing tourism: setting 
goals and marketing strategies and developing  a promotional program. Marketing activities must 
take place at the government offices of tourism, the local tourist office and tourism private sector 
because the development of a positive image of the new tourist area on the tourist potential 
markets is very important. 
Increase tourism product of the values enshrined in the relevant international standards, involves, 
on one hand,  the initiation and promotion of actions which include the conduct of a process of 
educating and training, a mentality adequate to the current type of development, and on the other 
hand, the emphasis of a sustainable development. This emphasis involves a balance between 
negative and positive outcomes of conducting tourism activities.  
A priority in the process of sustainable development held in our country is the component that 
includes  the  activities  of  planning,  operational  planning  and  tourism  as  an  integral  part  of 
sustainable development strategy of the area, region or country. To achieve a sustainable tourism, 
you need an integrated approach, partnerships with stakeholders. 
 
References: 
1. Faulkner, B., Moscardo, G. and Laws, E., (2001), Tourism in the twenty first century. Lessons 
from experience, Cromwell Press, London 
2. Holden, A., (2000),  Environment and Tourism, Routledge, London 
3. Hunter, C.,  (2001), Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm, in Knowles Tim, Diamantis 
Dimitrios  and  Bey  El-Mourhabi  Joudallah,  The  globalization  of  tourism  and  hospitality:  a 
strategic perspective, Cromwell Press, London 
4. Meethan, K., (2001), Tourism in global society. Place, Culture, Consumption, Palgrave, New 
York, 2001 
5. Pascariu, G.C., (2006), Evolutii si tendinte in turismul international. Fluxuri, piete, politici 
(Evolution  and  trends  in  international  tourism.  Flows,  markets,  policies),  Sedcom  Libris 
Publishing House, Iasi 
6.***Commission  of  the  European  Communities,  (2003),  “Basic  orientations  for  the 
sustainability of European tourism”, Communication from the Commission, Brussels  
7.***Eurobarometer,  European  Commission,  (2009),    Survey  on  the  attitudes  of  Europeans 
towards tourism. Analytical Report  
8.  ***Commission  of  the  European  Communities,  (2006),    A  renewed  EU  Tourism  Policy: 
Towards a stronger partnership for European Tourism, Communication from the Commission, 
Brussels 
9. ***www.wto.org    
                                                       
167 Pascariu, G.C., (2006), op. cit., pp. 194-195. 

Commission of the European Communities,

Environment and Tourism,

Evolutii si tendinte in turismul international. Fluxuri, piete, politici (Evolution and trends in international tourism. Flows, markets, policies), Sedcom Libris Publishing House,

Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism.

Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm, in Knowles Tim, Diamantis Dimitrios and Bey El-Mourhabi Joudallah, The globalization of tourism and hospitality: a strategic perspective,

Tourism in global society.

Tourism in the twenty first century. Lessons from experience,

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

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