摘要：The paper assesses the role of social, economic and especially environmental factors in determininggeneral, as well as ecotourism demand in Romania. In order to provide in-depth insights, we utilizea two-step approach: cross-sectional analysis for 2013 and a fixed-effect panel analysis for the 2000-2013 timespan (employing a total of 22 explanatory variables). Each of these methods was appliedconsidering the counties of Romania. The main results show that, over the last 15 years, social andeconomic factors have contributed to the evolution of tourism demand more than aspects related tothe environment. However, the emerging trend observed in 2013 shows a significantly strongerimpact of ecological determinants on both general, as well as ecotourism demand. In order toencourage the attractiveness of the tourism sector, local and regional authorities should channeltheir policies in a balanced manner towards all of the three components of an integrated andsustainable system.
