The role of digitalization in international tourism inflow to Romania: A spatial gravity model approach

Tourism plays a crucial role in a country’s economic development, offering opportunities for growth and alleviating regional disparities. This study focuses on the Romanian tourism sector, acknowledging its potential for development and recent resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need for a deeper understanding of international tourism inflow to Romania, given its potential contribution to economic growth. To this aim, we employ gravity models, commonly used in international tourism research, but rarely in Romania, especially the spatial ones. It is noteworthy that spatial gravity models consistently outperform classical models in this context. Filling a gap in the literature, the paper introduces a novel approach by incorporating digitization as an additional factor of influence in the spatial gravity model. The results confirm the main hypotheses of the gravity models: the geographical distance, GDP, and population size are indeed significant factors in explaining international tourist flows to Romania. Rather surprisingly, we found a negative impact of internet use by citizens in the countries of origin on tourist inflows to Romania. This suggests inadequate online promotion, indicating an urgent need for increased advertising of Romania’s tourist attractions.