‘Should I Go or Should I Stay?’ Why Do Romanians Choose the Bulgarian Seaside for Their Summer Holiday?

Abstract

Until 2020, sea and sun destinations all over the world experienced a surge in the number of tourists, including those in Central and Eastern European countries. During and after the pandemic period, changes in the main source markets took place. Consequently, this paper aims to analyze the main reasons Romanian tourists choose a destination on the Romanian or Bulgarian seaside for their holiday, using semi-structured interviews with tourists and subsequently the narrative analysis technique. The results indicate that their reasons fall into four categories, namely: (i) hedonistic consumption (available products and services, amenities, and the physical environment); (ii) functional value (value for money, subsidies, quality of services, accessibility, and convenience); (iii) tourist hesitation (situational constraints and perceived risks); and (iv) social value. Additionally, based on their choices, we identified five main categories of tourists—two of them include tourists who travel to the Bulgarian resorts either due to the perceived higher quality of services or because it is the cheapest option, while the remaining three categories refer to tourists choosing the Romanian seaside. Implications for Romanian stakeholders are also discussed.