Dacia and the Roman Empire: Tourism-led Growth and Catching-up with Macro-economic Constraints

In this paper we argue that a strategic planning on the development of tourism for a specific region within a wider macroeconomic area may help accelerate a catching-up process provided some important risks are known and "discounted" ex-ante. We have used the metaphor of Dacia and the Roman Empire to enquire into the relationship between a specific region of Europe (the Romania of today) and a wider institutioanl and economic framework (the European Union). The main conclusion of the paper is that in order to guarantee a positive contribution of tourism-led growth to a catching-up regional economy, the supply side should be implemented because externalities and public goods are an essential part of the tourist supply chain.