Romanian Newly-Nominated WHS and Current Tourism Development in the Associated Rural Localities

The aim of the chapter is to investigate the current status of tourism development within the rural localities adjacent to the newly nominated natural world heritage sites (WHS) in Romania. The general methodology will be that of a case study, combining deductive and inductive approaches and the critical interpretation based on the available data. The results show a modest to non-existent tourist infrastructure and shallow tourist activity in the rural area adjacent to the 12 locations of the new natural WHS. The findings also show a low level of awareness regarding the WHS designation among the local authorities and the absence of real cooperation between the custodians of the related protected areas and the local communities. The new WHS locations have a long way ahead to become attractive and sustainable tourist destination by applying adequate destination management which should include the special status of these rural destinations.

Changes in Rural Tourism

This chapter addresses the main trends of rural tourism and focuses on the development of this niche in Romania, one of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe that has a real potential to become a reference destination internationally. The analysis is based on the breakdown of statistical indicators and changes in the demand structure to assess the evolution of rural tourism activity objectively. Thus, elements such as the evolution of accommodation structures in rural areas, the number of overnight stays by agro-tourists, as well as changes in the profile of tourists that can influence the activity of rural tourism have been included. Also, there are examples of rural destinations that have made their mark on Romania as providers of rural tourism services that have echoes at the international level.

The Chinese Incoming Segment

The tourism domain has represented, for a long time, one of the main sources of revenue for the different destinations that have awarded a special focus to its development and enrichment. Its types of impacts, whether economic, social, or environmental, bring both great benefits and pose a certain level of risk. Regardless of the latter, people will be always willing to travel to get to know new cultures, and there will always be competition between destinations at the time of attracting and maintaining tourism flows. The last decades have been marked by the emergence of a new tourist flow (i.e., the Chinese outbound segment), which brings great economic potential to the Central and Eastern Europe region. To this end, this chapter focuses on presenting the current situation of the presence of the Chinese segment within CEE and some of the specificities of their tourist consumer behavior.

Mountain Tourism at the Beginning of the 21st Century

The 1990s represent the starting point for a lot of changes not only in tourism but in the whole economy of any EEC. Before that, Eastern European countries had similar tourism developments with some differences between the types of mountain development due to some specificities according to the national policies of the sector. A short overview of the mountain tourism current situation is presented in the beginning. The tourism market is a very challenging one with rapid changes due to shifts in customers' preferences, new technologies, seasonality. The authors also presented the latest trends in mountain tourism in terms of supply and demand. The possibilities for future mountain tourism development in Romania are presented at the end of the chapter starting from the results of the previous analyses. Some of them are specific for Romania, but others can be applied to all mountain destinations (with or without minor adjustments).

Socialist Architecture

The goal of the chapter is to draw attention to the need to preserve selected examples of architecture built in 1945-1991 in the European Union countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The meanings assigned to the objects evolve, and along with social changes and changing awareness, architectural and urban value of the buildings from this period is more and more often noticed. Consequently, growth of their significance for development of tourism can be expected. On the other hand, they often constitute a dissonant heritage, and thus, more and more of them are demolished. This chapter presents the concept of dissonant heritage and justifies the relationships between characterised architecture. Attention is focused on the relationships between the need to protect it and the concept of sustainable development (including sustainable tourism). Examples of cities that have relatively big resources of this architecture are identified, and an attempt to classify them is made. Then tourist offer of these cities is analysed with respect to the use of the discussed architecture.

Aspects of the Tourist Movement in Eastern European Countries

Political changes that took place in the 1990s brought up the opening of tourism markets for Eastern European countries leading to a boost in the role of tourism in the economic and social sectors. This dynamic is reflected in the main tourism indicators, starting from the number of arrivals, revenue volume, degree of endowment with accommodation equipment, as well as in the competitiveness monitor aimed at a multitude of aspects. Concurrently, the complexity of tourism resources and their attractiveness represent the starting point in the elaboration of tourism development and promotion measures, which must take into account the harmonisation of all categories of local interests from local authorities and private companies to NGOs and population, thusly providing an adequate framework so that tourism can realise its effect as a multiplier for the economy.

Typical Aspects of the Traditional Food Behavior Within the Romanian Rural Environment

The Romanians' food behavior has certain peculiarities specific to the various geographical areas in which the Romanian society has developed. An analysis of the traditional diet is—up to this date—modest. But taking into account the very varied geographic conditions, the existing resources, sometimes abundant, sometimes modest, of the troubled history of the Romanian people, it is easy to understand how the way of life and the culinary habits in Romania were shaped throughout history. This chapter explores typical aspects of traditional food behavior in rural Romania.

Tourism and Hospitality's Young Workforce

This chapter aims to study the perspectives on the foreign language skills based on the Romanian tourism and hospitality young workforce views. Qualitative and quantitative methods help collect data to identify the main barriers to foreign language learning, the fluency in English and a second language and the willingness to learn a second language when necessary, and the young workforce's openness and readiness for exotic foreign languages. The results show that English is a requirement within the labor market in the tourism and hospitality sector that the young workforce knows about and that knowing a second foreign language may act as a differentiator within the labor market. China is gaining ground as a tourism market with many Chinese tourists traveling the world. This brings about a new challenge for the tourism staff: that of acquiring new exotic foreign languages. It is well understood that tourists prefer to use their native tongue or a world language such as English.

The Impact of Rural Tourism on Wellbeing

This chapter aims to enhance general knowledge about the impact of rural tourism on the wellbeing in a country that is known to have an impressive potential both on spa and rural tourism. The approach will take into consideration the new profile of tourists in recent years and the dynamism of the tourism field in Europe. Based on the research that the author has made in recent years on health tourism and wellbeing, expanding the scientific approach to the rural area represents the next step in her approach, given the potential of this field in Romania. The chapter will address the ways of capitalising on the rural tourism resources in Romania through the specific activities of the concept of “rural wellbeing tourism.” This model has been successfully developed and implemented in the Nordic countries, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, and Canada, and it is considered a way to generate highly competitive tourism products.

Rural Tourism and Its Dimension

This chapter aims at identifying the role and perspectives of rural tourism in one of Romania's most attractive destinations, Transylvania. Rural tourism and rurality are conceptualized, followed by a literature review on the major pillars of rural tourism. Identified elements are linked to Transylvania's resources aiming at assessing its rural tourist potential, focusing on the area's rural tourism supply and demand. Potential recommendations include to work on the further development of rural and agritourism in Transylvania's multicultural villages, building promotion strategies around success cases such as Mărginimea Sibiului, Sâncraiu, Şirnea and the entire Bran-Fundata-Moieciu area, Viscri and the Saxon heritage, the UNESCO Heritage sites. Nature and wilderness are important differentiation elements. The success of any destination can only be achieved based on the joint efforts of all stakeholders. Thus, DMO strategies are formulated. To be internationally competitive, Transylvania must capitalize on its unique assets and it must provide diversified and integrated services.