THE CORRELATION BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL TOURIST ARRIVALS AND TOURISM RECEIPTS - A KEY FACTOR OF TOURISM EFFICIENCY

The paper analyzed the relationship between international tourist arrivals and tourism receipts in the world, in the EU and in Romania in the period 2009-2015. Also, it was analyzed the situation in the CEECs in 2014. The relationship between these two indicators was studied in its dynamics and also as a ratio reflecting tourism efficiency in term of receipt per tourist. The Bravais-Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients confirmed the existence of a strong link between these indicators: r= 0.925 at the world level, r = 0.967 in the EU, r = 0.877 in Romania and r = 0.896 in the CEECs. The average receipt/tourist in the whole analyzed period accounted for 1,040.3 USD at the world level, 916.95 USD in the EU and 900.04 USD in Romania. In the CEECs, the average receipt/tourist was 1,205.5 USD in 2014. The EU contributes by 40.4 % to the number of international tourist arrivals, and by 37.39 % to the world receipts from tourism, reflecting its power of attraction for the tourists coming from all over the world due to its cultural heritage and large variety of landscapes, historical places, museums, art galleries, traditions. The CEECs contributes by 10.40 % of the EU tourist inflow and by 11.86 % of the EU receipts. Romania contributes by 0.47 % to the EU international tourists and by 0.38 % to the EU receipts. The increased number of international tourists has a benefic effect on tourism receipts, and together represents the key factors of tourism development and the world trade and global economy.