ROMANIAN TOURISM REVIVAL, A PRIORITY PREMISE IN INCREASING NATIONAL ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism industry has created five million new jobs, going to count globally over 260 million employees; approx. 10% of all new jobs in the world are generated by this industry. Where is Romania in this landscape? At the level of competitiveness, Romania fell five places in 2011-2013, reaching 68, from 63, behind Hungary, Poland and even Bulgaria. The reasons for departing from: Romanians' attitude towards tourists, ineffective marketing, the quality of the natural environment, transport deficiencies and ineffective police services (law enforcement, maintaining order). However, at the national level, we have all the necessary elements and we have all chances to become a competitive tourist destination domestically and internationally; in order for this chance to become a reality, we need to exploit the existing potential and transform Romania into an attractive tourist destination for both Romanian and foreigners, a performance target, as the natural conditions and materials are available.