Profiling Visitors to Romanian Ecotourism Destinations

Visitors' increasing interest in nature-based and cultural tourism, especially in the context of ecotourism destinations, has generated a heated debate in tourism literature. Some authors consider that ecotourism should be approached through a niche strategy rather than through mass marketing. Therefore, identifying the main characteristics of visitors to ecotourism destinations is very important in setting management and marketing strategies adapted to their specific needs. The present paper aims to identify the profile of visitors to Romanian ecotourism destinations, considering the ecotourism potential of this country and the scarcity of empirical studies on these types of destinations. To reach this aim, a survey was conducted in four Romanian ecotourism destinations. By computing the data collected from a sample of 1157 visitors, four visitor segments have been identified based on a single characteristic (visit purpose). Crosstabulation and Chi-square analysis were used in order to identify the profiles of these segments. The results reveal that most of respondents are nature travellers, followed by culture travellers. The findings may be used by ecotourism destination managers in order to target specific market segments and establish proper management and marketing strategies.