THE EVOLUTION OF THE TOURIST SERVICES OFFER AT EUROPEAN LEVEL – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF URBAN/RURAL AREAS

This paper explores the advancement of leisure facilities in the European countries through a comparative approach between urban and rural environments, placing the tourist interests at its core. Overtourism and interdisciplinarity of tourist services are explored, in order to assess the tourism trend in urban and rural regions over the years. Regarding methodology, authors used both qualitative methods for analyzing the relevant current literature from the field and quantitative methods for analyzing secondary data retrieved from Eurostat database. Pareto distribution analysis is the main tool used for reviewing collected data for a period of ten years, 2014-2023. Results show that the same countries are in a leading position in both areas, urban and rural, respectively France, Italy, Spain and Germany, prevailing the European tourism. Authors selected this topic due to the upward trend of tourism economy worldwide. This article can be relevant for students, scientific researchers, organizations and practitioners concerned with the subject, bringing alternative perspectives for analysis.