In recent years, the term ecotourism destination has started to appear frequently in Romania. In fact, few people know that, at least from the perspective of applying the concept, Romania is the promoter of this approach at the international level, being one of the few countries in the world that has applied a destination evaluation system, based on internationally recognized criteria. Let’s go together, briefly, through this evolution.

This is the first article in a series of three that aims to address the issue of ecotourism destinations in Romania. In addition to the evolution of the concept presented in this article, the others will address the need for certification of destinations and the benefits that such an approach can bring (II) and the current situation of the network of ecotourism destinations (III).