The Influence of the Seaside Characteristics on the Tourist Ports and Their Impact on the Romanian Coast of the Black Sea

Abstract

The Black Sea is an intra-continental sea situated between Europe (towards the west and north) and Asia (towards the east and the south). Its surface covers more than 450,000 km², occupying an important position among the intra-continental seas, which means that it’s almost two times larger than Romania. In our country the Black Sea boasts about 245 km of coast, of which 70 km include sand beaches, capitalised for tourism. While the seacoast belonging to the Danube Delta is protected as a Biosphere Reserve, the southern part of the seashore has been turned into a chain of resorts with 25 localities and 13 main resorts, all comprised in the Constanta county, visited annually by over a million tourists. In order to enhance the attractiveness of the Romanian seashore after 1990, a new tendency appeared - to develop the nautical sports field. In this context, the authorities analysed the option of building tourist ports that had not existed during the period of the socialist economy.