The evolution of Romanian agritourism and the role of European Union subsidies in rural areas

Following the collapse of the communist regime in Romania, there has been an intense growth in the number of farms providing holiday accommodation, which has gone to answer the tourism flows from other European countries that have increased significantly, particularly since 2009. The core purpose of this study was to estimate, through a quantitative approach, the main relationships between decoupled payments and other financial subsidies allocated by the European Union in the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the growth of Romanian agritourism. The findings reveal that, over the 2007-2016 period, decoupled payments more than financial subsidies allocated under the second pillar of the CAP have acted to encourage the growth of agritourism in the Romanian countryside. This has corroborated the crucial role that direct payments and other financial subsidies have played in stimulating diversification in Romanian farms and, at the same time, reducing the levels of permanent emigration from rural villages as well.