In the last decades, wine tourism (WT) has been a topic of study, especially for researchers from large producer countries. The relationship between wine tourism and rural tourism (RT) has been approached from many angles in the past. Ranking sixth in Europe in having its surface cultivated with vines, Romania is one of the major players in the Old World of wine producers. In Romania, the scientific literature on wine tourism is scarce and has a limited coverage on the subject. The present paper, by its main purpose, raises the curtain of Romanian wine tourism drawing a consumer profile and analyzes the relationship between WT and RT. Through quantitative research with 850 valid wine tourist respondents and a margin of error of 3.36%, we discovered that people who know what wine tourism means are 1.85 times more confident that it will contribute to the development of rural tourism compared to those who know less about the subject. A high number of visits leads to a decrease in the confidence that rural tourism can be developed through wine tourism due to the poor diversification of leisure activities offered by wine cellars and a weak connection between economic activity and local space. In the end, we draw some practical implications for wine cellars. By developing local-based leisure activities, vineyards can contribute to the sustainable development of the local community. Due to the COVID-19 impact on tourism, there are some limitations to our study. Future studies are needed to cover the changes and evolution of this type of tourism.
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).
The subject of generations and their differences has been intensely analyzed and debated. Each generation has its own characteristics, regardless of the element that differentiates them. Gen Z’s relationship with tourism has been approached in recent years from various perspectives by many scholars. For the current research, representative characteristics were identified as important for Gen Z: off-the-beaten-path locations and experiences. Off-the-beaten-path locations refer to small-scale destinations, under-tourism, local businesses, sustainability, and local traditions. All of the aspects mentioned before are typical of rural tourism. Experiences are introduced by various elements of rural attractiveness: material cultural heritage (MCH) and immaterial (ICH), the living human treasures program (LHT), wine tourism, products with a protected designation of origin (PDO), products with a protected geographical indication (PGI), culinary diversity, and other rural leisure facilities. Two purposes have been established: to identify the relationship between Gen Z and rural tourism and its components defined by cultural heritage and traditional gastronomy, and to construct a predictive model regarding Gen Z’s behavior when traveling to rural destinations. For this, we performed a quantitative investigation among university students from Romania using an online survey. Using 280 Gen Z respondents from 323 valid responses, we performed a direct logistic regression. The results showed that they value local gastronomy and unique attractions, which we can include in MCH. The price represents an important element when choosing an accommodation unit. Due to the constantly increasing share of Gen Z in the tourism market, destinations and tourism operators will have time to prepare and adapt to new realities. Transversal research will benefit from the opportunity to compare Gen Z’s preferences and changes over time.
Sustainable practices are becoming a necessity in a world that is depleting natural resources at an accelerated level. In tourism, the accommodation service is essential and can be a starting point for the implementation of these practices. The article aims to investigate the interest of managers/owners of boarding houses and agrotourism boarding houses in Romania for certain aspects related to sustainability: use of organic products, energy savings, selective collection, employee training, and marketing campaigns. The results reveal a high level of selective waste collection and a reduction in the use of toxic products, while the certification of sustainable practices is lower. However, based on the values obtained, we appreciate that managers' interest in sustainability is high, especially since we are talking about small organizations. The originality of the approach comes from the fact that no national coverage research has been carried out on these forms of accommodation on the topic of practices related to sustainability. The results can help managers to relate to the market average and decide what actions they need to take regarding sustainability practices. It also helps other stakeholders, such as customers or authorities, to see the level of implementation and interest in providing environmentally friendly services.
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