ANALYSIS OF THE ECOTOURIST PROFILE BEFORE THE COVID-19 CRISIS AND POST-CRISIS FORECASTS

During this period, world tourism is experiencing the biggest crisis, after the Second World War - the crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic. Reservations were canceled, the accommodation and public catering units were closed, the flights were also canceled. The losses are valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, many tourism or service companies went bankrupt and employees lost their jobs. Our study was done before this crisis, but it becomes even more current, for the post-crisis period, when tourists and owners of tourism units will have to focus on nature, ecological tourism. The work we are proposing is the result of a study by university professors and master students from the management and agro-tourism specialty at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. Based on research into their behavior, preferences and motivation, it has emerged that an ecotourist is characterized by a high level of education and training, above average income and willing to spend more in a destination during a stay extended.