Estimating Cultural Tourism Flows in Romania: Empirical Approaches Based on Existing Data at Municipality Level

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present two empirical approaches of estimating/approximating the size of cultural tourism in Romania based on existing data at municipality level. These approaches have been labelled ‘the potential supply approach’ (based on municipalities with man-made tourism resources as dominant resource) and ‘the demand approach’ (based on municipalities that register visitors in museums). Number of tourists (arrivals) in accommodation establishments was considered the benchmark statistical indicator. The analysis of Pearson correlation between number of tourists and number of visitors in museums was also included, and municipalities where this correlation is positive and statistically significant were grouped in eight clusters. The results revealed a strong concentration of tourism in big cities that are both cultural and tourism destinations as well as a correlation between tourism and culture data for 67 municipalities (out of 284). However, the precise size of cultural tourism is difficult to be quantified in the lack of any specific demand-side survey regarding travel purposes and/or activities undertaken during tourism trips and within such purposes/activities, cultural tourism to be separately identified. But, in these circumstances, the two approaches presented in this paper can outline only a maximum size of cultural tourism in the country.