The structure of accommodation units in Romania

Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
The structure of accommodation units in Romania
L. BRUCKNER, Adina-Maria PUSCASU, V. SURD,
Emilia Florentina GROSU, Oana ORBAN
Human Geography
Babes-Bolyai University
Str. Clinicilor, nr. 5-7, Cluj-Napoca
Romania
leonard.bruckner@ubbcluj.ro, adina.puscasu@ubbcluj.ro, vsurd@geografie.ubbcluj.ro
e_f_grosu@yahoo.it,
Abstract: - In this paper we will present the result of combining statistical datas with the vector datas, using
cartographic and GIS softwere. Statistically there are 6260 accommodation units recorded in many forms and
with different levels of comfort. Also, we will watch the accommodation units structure after the number of
units and their places available for each category. Given the fact that the housing units and places are unevenly
devided between 1040 location all over Romania, it will be analysed the situation of accommodation units fot
each location and then the situation for each cunty includind the confort level.
Key-Words: - Accommodation, comfort level, percentage, tourism, Romania.
Through this article is intended an objective
presentation of the current situation of
accommodation structures in Romania starting from
a official database developed by the Ministry of
Regional and Tourism Development (M.R.T.D.).
1 Introduction
The tourist market is represented by the interference
area of tourism product with their consumers. It has
two basic concepts, namely: tourism offer
(expressed by the tourism product) and the tourism
demand ( tourists and their needs) [1]
The great extend of tourism activity is
determined primarily by natural tourism potential
and historical cultural heritage.
Romania has the advantage of being able to offer
a comprehensive range of destinations, its territory
is characterized by a large variety of lanscapes and
different forms of relief, waters, flora and fauna,
sunny beaches of the Black Sea and the Danube
Delta, a rare phenomenon with an unique
ecosystem. To this they are added historical
monuments from ancient times, lands interspersed
with legends, art monuments, original folk elements,
traditional cuisine , ethnocultural events and mch
more.
3 Method
The main method used in the present paper is
statistical analysis, correlated with cartographic and
descriptive-interpretive study. A few important steps
in composing the database behind the maps were :
collecting statistical datas about the accommodation
units, the conversion of statistical datas in a format
that is compatible with the GIS software used,
building the vector datas and the final step was to
combine the two data types through a GIS software.
4 Analysis
The tourism establishments, in any form, propriety
and organisation, are classified accordind to the
constructions endowments and the quality of public
services, in other words, after the comfort level
offered on a number of stars or flowers (for the
agrotouristic guesthousese).
The types of facilities with accommodation
functions, existing in Romania, according to the
Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, are
in total of 17 like this: rent apartment (1-3 stars),
2 Purpose
The revaluation and promoting of tourist attractions
is mostly limited by the quality of infrastructure in
tourist areas, accomodations and recreation services,
all stand at the base of tourism development in
Romania. The tipe and comfort of accommodation
units are important facts to decide the next trip.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
546
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
bungalow (1-3 stars), chalet (1-3 stars), rent room
(1-3 stars), camping (1-4 stars), cottages (1-3 stars),
hostel (1-3 stars), hotel (1-5 stars), motel (1-3 stars),
waterways (2-5 stars), guesthouse (1-5 flori si 1-5
stars), floating pontoon (2-3 stars), tourist stop (1-3
stars), holiday village (2-5), camping site (1 stea),
villa (1-5 stars).
This clasification is established by the General
Authosization and Control Department of the
Ministry of Tourism, which verifyes the compliance
with the classification criteria and prepares a
certificate of classification for each tourist
accommodation unit.
In Romania There are 6260 accommodation units
registered at the Trade Register Office.
seats, meaning 18.79 percent). The villas have
13876 beds (4.86 percent). You can see that to each
guesthouse correspounds an average of 16.57
places, compared with the hotel where the average
value is 127.03 places.
According M.R.T.D. there is a single unit
recorded as camping site at Bixad, Covasna county
with a star. Also there are six floating pontoons, five
in Tulcea county and one in Braila county, there are
14 holiday villages, two for each of Poiana Brasov
and Salard localities and one for each of the
following: Berceni, Brezoi, Gura Portitei, Navodari,
Neptun, Nufaru, Orastie, Sarichioi, Sohodol and
Sucevita localities.
From 1040 localities with accommodations, the
capital of Romania, Bucharest, meets most
accommodation units (202 units, 3.22 percent).
Between 101 and 200 accommodation units we find
six cities: Busteni – 144 units, Brasov – 112 units,
Predeal – 112 units, Cluj-Napoca – 108 units, Sinaia
– 108 units, Sibiu – 102 units. Between 51 and 100
accommodation units there are 14 localities,
between 26 and 50 units, there are 30 localities,
between 11 and 25 there are 81, between 6 and 10
there are 79 localities, and between 1 and 5, there
are 830 localities, which means 79,80 percent. To be
noted there are 491 localities (47.21 percent) that
have only one registered accommodation unit which
in most cases corresponds to be a guesthouse. (see
Figure 1)
Most accommodations are in Mamaia, Constanta
county, with 21.094 places, meaning 7.38 percent
from the total places in Romania. Between 10001
and 20000 places are found three localities: Eforie
Nord (10074 places), Neptun (10833 places) and
Bucharest (19838 places). Between 5001 and 10000
places there are four localities: Jupiter, Venus,
Costinesti and Saturn, all are coastal resorts from
Constanta county. Between 1001 and 5000 places
there are 44 localities (4.23 percent), between 401
and 1000 places there are 64 localities (6.15
percent), between 201 and 400 places there are 67
localities (6.44 percent), the remaining 857 localities
(82.40 percent) do not exceed the verge of 200
places. (see Figure 2)
Even from the first view on the maps you can see
a significat concentration, in terms of
accommodation units and places, along Prahova
Valley and along Black Seas coast. The resort from
the Prahova Valley area gather a total of 445
accommodation units and the seaside resorts 670
units. These highly visited tourist destinations can
host 98692 tourists together, mening 34.55 percent
(more than a third from total accommodation
posibilities in Romania).
5.1 Accommodation units at local level
The accommodation units are divided into 1040
localities, nationwide are being gathered 285583
accommodation posibilities.
Table 1
The accommodation units categories with their number of
places.
Category
Rent apartment
Bungalow
Chalet
Rent rooms
Camping
Cottage
Hostel
Hotel
Motel
Waterways
Rural guesthouse
Guesthouse
Floating pont.
Tourist stop
Holiday village
Camping site
Villa
Total
Accom.
units
58
58
170
194
46
29
210
1392
198
21
806
2432
6
58
14
1
567
6260
%
0.93
0.93
2.72
3.10
0.73
0.46
3.35
22.24
3.16
0.34
12.88
38.85
0.09
0.93
0.22
0.02
9.06
100.00
Accom.
places
288
1716
4672
1797
10078
761
10712
176836
7418
345
11713
41942
142
2539
738
10
13876
285583
%
0.10
0.60
1.64
0.63
3.53
0.27
3.75
61.92
2.60
0.12
4.10
14.69
0.05
0.89
0.26
0.00
4.86
100.00
Source: M.R.T.D.
As we can see in the table above, most
accommodations are of guesthouse type, classified
by stars (2432 units, with a share of 38.85 percent of
total), though, they measure only 41942 places,
representing 14.69 percent of total. These are
followed by hotels with a number of 1392 units
(22.24 percent) and the rural guesthouses with 806
units (12.88 percent).
In Romania, the most accommodations places
are provided by the hotel units (176836 places,
meaning 61.92 percent), nemely with 3.29 times
more seats than both types of guesthouses (53655
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
547
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
Fig. 1 The accommodation units at locality level.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
548
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
Fig. 2 The accommodation places at locality level.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
549
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
The Black Sea coast can accommodate 85692
tourists (30.00 percent) and Prahova Valley resorts
13000 tourists (4.55 percent).
Generally, the county seat contain, thanks to
there endowments and central administration of
county, most of the accommodation units or
accommodation places. In the maps one and two it
can be seen the number of units and places for every
location but mainly for each county seat.
In the following lines we will highlight the
number of hosting units and their capacity cover for
each county seat: Alba-Iulia (Alba) 16 units with
853 places, Arad (Arad) 57 units with 2117 places,
Pitesti (Arges) 28 units with 1608 places, Bacau
(Bacau) 20 units with 708 places, Oradea (Bihor) 30
units with 1730 places, Bistrita (Bistrita-Nasaud) 19
units with 989 places, Botosani (Botosani) 10 units
with 727 places, Braila (Braila) 18 units with 982
places, Brasov (Brasov) 112 cu 4916 places,
Bucuresti (Ilfov) 202 units with 19838 places,
Buzau (Buzau) 12 units with 551 places, Calarasi
(Calarasi) 10 units with 516 places, Resita (carasSeverin) 12 units with 468 places, Cluj-Napoca
(Cluj) 108 units with 4415 places, Constanta
(Constanta) 70 units with 4159 places, Sfantu
Gheorghe (Covasna) 18 units with 436 places,
Targoviste (Dambovita) 12 units with 617 places,
Craiova (Dolj) 35 units with 1805 places, Galati
(Galati) 33 units with 1369 places, Giurgiu
(Giurgiu) 3 units with 230 places, Targu Jiu (Gorj)
21 units with 879 places, Miercurea Ciuc (Harghita)
25 units with 907 places, Deva (Hunedoara) 18 units
with 365 places, Slobozia (Ialomita) 6 units with
329 places, Iasi (Iasi) 63 units with 3118 places,
Baia Mare (Maramures) 37 units with 1256 places,
Drobeta-Turnu Severin (Mehedinti) 20 units with
1113 places, Targu Mures (Mures) 39 units with
2147 places, Piatra Neamt (Neamt) 20 units with
808 places, Slatina (Olt) 9 units with 509 places,
Ploiesti (Prahova) 17 units with 1086 places, Zalau
(Salaj) 14 units with 532 places, Satu Mare (Satu
Mare) 18 units with 838 places, Sibiu (Sibiu) 102
localitati cu 3643 places, Suceava (Suceava) 21
units with 1117 places, Alexandria (Teleorman) 3
units with 182 places, Timisoara (Timis) 88 units
with 4656 places, Tulcea (Tulcea) 35 units with
1423 places, Ramnicu Valcea (Valcea) 22 units with
670 places, Vaslui (Vaslui) 9 units with 351 places
si Focsani (Vrancea) 14 units with 410 places.
Accounting the values for all of the 41 county seats,
the result will be 1425 accomodations (22.76
percent from total) such as 75357 places (26,38
percent from total places).
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
5.2 Accommodation units at county level
The 6260 accommodation units are divided into
the 41 counties, adding Bucharest capital as we can
follow in the table bellow:
Table 2
Accommodation units at county level.
County
Alba
Arad
Arges
Bacau
Bihor
Bistrita-Nasaud
Botosani
Braila
Brasov
BUCHAREST
Buzau
Calarasi
Caras-Severin
Cluj
Constanta
Covasna
Dambovita
Dolj
Galati
Giurgiu
Gorj
Harghita
Hunedoara
Ialomita
Iasi
Ilfov
Maramures
Mehedinti
Mures
Neamt
Olt
Prahova
Salaj
Satu Mare
Sibiu
Suceava
Teleorman
Timis
Tulcea
Valcea
Vaslui
Vrancea
Total
Accom.
units
128
97
200
115
183
43
18
37
754
202
83
16
163
238
677
111
54
55
44
14
66
320
182
22
88
41
225
48
180
133
20
400
37
46
277
305
9
140
187
23
57
222
6260
%
2.04
1.55
3.19
1.84
2.92
0.69
0.29
0.59
12.04
3.23
1.33
0.26
2.60
3.80
10.81
1.77
0.86
0.88
0.70
0.22
1.05
5.11
2.91
0.35
1.41
0.65
3.59
0.77
2.88
2.12
0.32
6.39
0.59
0.73
4.42
4.87
0.14
2.24
2.99
0.37
0.91
3.55
100.00
Accom.
places
3175
3686
5324
3965
10012
2559
862
2207
22549
19838
2443
600
6076
7809
85826
4735
2121
2753
1615
501
2076
6837
5053
2214
3640
2676
4902
1812
7050
3869
851
11387
1070
1909
8024
8370
540
6777
5074
824
1211
10761
285583
%
1.11
1.29
1.86
1.39
3.51
0.90
0.30
0.77
7.90
6.95
0.86
0.21
2.13
2.73
30.05
1.66
0.74
0.96
0.57
0.18
0.73
2.39
1.77
0.78
1.27
0.94
1.72
0.63
2.47
1.35
0.30
3.99
0.37
0.67
2.81
2.93
0.19
2.37
1.78
0.29
0.42
3.77
100.00
Source: M.R.T.D.
The counties with the richest accommodation
infrastructure are: Brasov with 754 units (12,04
percent), Constanta with 677 units (10,81 percent),
Prahova with 400 units (6,39 percent), Harghita
with 320 units (5,11 percent) si Suceava with 305
units (4,87 percent).
550
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
Fig. 3 The accommodation units at county level.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
551
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
Fig. 4 The accomodation places at county level.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
552
Recent Researches in Tourism and Economic Development
The countis with the fewest accommodation
units are: Teleorman with 9 units (0,14 percent),
Giurgiu with 14 units (0,22 percent) and Calarasi
with 16 units (0,26 percent). (see Figure 3)
Most accommodations can be found in the
following counties: Constanta with 85826 places
(30,05 percent), Brasov with 22549 places (7,90
percent), municipiul Bucharest with 19838 places
(6,95 percent), Prahova with 11387 places (3,99
percent) and Vrancea with 10761 places (3,77
percent). He counties with the fewest
accommodations are: Giurgiu with 501 places,
Teleorman with 540 places and Calarasi with 600
places. (see Figure 4).
Analysing the datas will be captured the fact that
these counties have the most accommodation
structures available in our country: Cluj and
Bucharest for rent apartments (each with 13 of 58);
Constanta for bungalow (with 21 of 58), for
camping (with 11 of 46), for hostel (with 55 of 210),
for hotel (with 322 of 1392) and for villas (with 181
of 567); Bacau for cottages (with 4 of 29); Brasov
for rural guesthouse (with 128 of 806), guesthouse
(with 366 of 2432), for holiday village, same value
with Tulcea (each with 3 of 14); Tulcea for nava
fluviala (with 18 of 21), for floating pontoon (with 5
of 6); Covasna for camping sites (the only one
registered); Hunedoara for chalet (with 27 of 170);
Prahova for rent rooms (with 78 of 194), for motel
(with 14 of 198) si Valcea for tourist stop (with 8 of
58). This hierarchy of largest number of
accommodation units on categories at county level
is mainly valide also concerning the places of
accommodation with some exceptions: for rent
apartments, Bucharest has the most places, for
cottages, Tulcea, for motels, Brasov, for tourist stop,
Constanta, and for holiday village, Tulcea.
References:
[1] X1. Cocean, P., Vlascianu, G., Negoiescu, B.,
Geografia Generala a turismului, Meteor
Press, 2008.
[2] X2. Ministerul Dezvoltarii Regionale si
Turismului:
http://www.mdrt.ro/turism/unitati-clasificate
- accessed on 29.07.2011
5 Conclusion
Through this study it has been accomplished a
digital complete and up to date database at locality
and county level which contains the number of
accommodations and their posibilities of hosting, on
categories. These database may be very useful in
many activity fields but mostly in the tourism
domain both for consumer as for tourism dealer.
The cartographic method used in this study
consists of a useful tool to those who wish quick and
fair informing. Maps allow the viewer to capture
and understand a phenomenon faster and with a
greater impact than classical statistical analysis.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-043-5
553