Rural Tourism in Marginimea Sibiului Area—A Possibility of Capitalizing on Local Resources

Abstract

The current research was motivated by observed particularities of local communities and the necessity of local rural economy diversification. Development through rural tourism is a possible sustainable response that can be implemented in many of Europe’s rural areas, including Marginimea Sibiului. Thus, the purpose of this research, and its main contribution, was to identify the specific features of the Marginimea Sibiului area and possible strategies for capitalizing on local resources through rural tourism activities. We also sought to understand the extent to which rural tourism is seen by the owners of tourist structures as a developmental possibility. We utilized a case study research method to address these questions. The research has major implications due to the questionnaires applied to the owners of rural tourism structures during August 2022, which allowed us to determine: the motivation of tourist structure owners to carry out tourism activity, the degree of development, aspects concerning the operation and management of the tourist structure, and future development and improvement of the owned products. Because the area is representative at the national level in terms of rural tourism activity, an X-ray was sketched after the conclusions were drawn, which issued some proposals for “mixing” the resources through rural tourist activities as a “presentation modality”, which may potentially have favorable future consequences.

Can We Talk about Smart Tourist Villages in Mărginimea Sibiului, Romania?

“…Adamov et al show that in 2021, the top three rural tourism/agritourism destinations in Romania are the Bras , ov area, the Maramures , area, and the Sibiu area. The number of tourist structures and the net capacity utilization index registered in the three areas were 387 and 31.4% (Bras , ov); 264 and 26.4% (Maramures , ); and 146 and 35.6% (Sibiu), respectively [70]. In the same year, 9146 tourist structures with accommodation functions were operating in Romania, of which 3460 were agritourism guesthouses, representing 37.7% of the total [71], registering an increasing demand for rural holidays based on the sustainability and uniqueness of the area [69].…”

“…The large number of tourist structures in the three localities chosen for the case study demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit of the locals who see in rural tourism and agritourism an opportunity for future development based on the capitalization on natural and anthropic resources [70], making Mărginimea Sibiului a unique rural tourism destination. Coros , et al show that since 2010, the efforts of the owners of tourist structures in the Mărginimea Sibiului area have been observed to improve the quality of services and the level of comfort offered, which has led to the improvement of the attractiveness of the area [76].…”

Hotspot Identification and Causal Analysis of Chinese Rural Tourism at Different Spatial and Temporal Scales Based on Tourism Big Data

“…Most scholars believe that the economy [41], resources [42], population [43], and service capacity [44] will affect the spatial distribution of tourism areas. As a new form of tourism occurring in rural areas, rural tourism has the typical characteristics of traditional tourism projects, and its evolution in tourism's spatial pattern is influenced by the spatial layout of traditional tourist attractions.…”

Bibiliometric Mapping of Local Communities’ Environmental Conservation Behaviour

“…Rural was defined by the OECD (1994) using a geographical criterion, separating the national territory into two levels: regional and local community, and there is no unambiguous definition of rural development in economic literature (Adamov et al, 2022). The rural population is defined by size, usage of land, economic and cultural activities and specific arrangements (Muresan & Ivan, 2016) and act as the most dynamic component of the rural areas and a potentially valuable resource for rural development, with a key role in formulating rural development policies (Muresan et al, 2016).…”