Perception of the Representatives of the Public Administration on the Development of Rural Tourism in the Mountain Area of Suceava County

Abstract

The mountain area of Suceava county has many unique and well-preserved tourist resources that give personality to this space through age, originality, traditional rural households and a generous number of accommodation places. The data of the National Institute of Statistics from 2018 on the capacity of tourist accommodation, places Suceava county on the third place, after Constanţa and Braşov counties. The present study follows the perception of the representatives of the public administration vis-à-vis rural tourism and its development in the mountain area of Suceava county. The research highlights the role of local authorities in the development of rural tourism and its promotion from the point of view of those in local management. The methodology is based on the survey conducted on the basis of the questionnaire by the method of face-to-face interview, between September 1 and November 30, 2019 in the mountain area of Suceava county. It is found that in all the localities in the mountain area, the interviewees are aware of the existing tourism potential and have responded to the requests made by the tour operators in the 36 studied communes. In conclusion, following the analysis of the results, it is found that rural tourism is an economic alternative for the inhabitants of the rural area of Suceava, with real possibilities of development, benefiting from the support of the local authorities.