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Volume XII |

The Role of Infrastructure and Touristic Traffic in Romania’s Touristic Regionalization

Abstract: The touristic regionalization, in most cases, is performed by taking into account the tourism potential as main reference, in this respect numerous methodologies having attempted to quantify as balanced as possible both the natural tourism potential and the man-made one. Beyond its great theoretical importance, their actual, practical and statistical value is yet limited, given that all economic and socio-political analyses, reports and comparisons have a mandatory administrative dimension, too. These present realities constitute the main reason why we believe that a deepening of regionalization which takes into consideration, more than others made so far, the administrative component, on the one hand, and the actual revaluation, on the other hand, embodied in the existence of specific infrastructure, which together with the tourism potential shall determine the attraction of tourist flows. In this respect, we tried to consider, to share and to model a large number of indicators to reach an outcome which provides a more real, synthetic and complete image (8 data sets were structured and combined, calculating 13 indicators, subsequently synthesized into 5, which led to the preparation of maps: afterwards these were overlapped for county level, respectively their average at the level of development regions. Such a regionalization also reflects the real role that tourism plays in the economic balance of counties, respectively development regions.

Volume XII |

The Characteristics of the Ski Domains from the Romanian Carpathians

Abstract: Most of the Romanian ski tracks have been equipped in the mountain areas, at altitudes lower than 1500 m, in the proximity of human areas. The most relevant indicator of the development of ski lands in Romania is given by the total length of the ski tracks which, in 2010, was 168 km. Without any further references to other constituents of the tourism infrastructure from this field, one can say that the Romanian ski area is characterised by an insufficient development of ski tracks. In the Romanian Carpathians, the average density of the ski tracks is about 2 m/km2, with important variations in different mountain areas. The most equipped and developed ski domain from Romania (26% from the total length of the ski tracks) is located in the Curvature Carpathians area, in the territory of Prahova and Braşov counties. The development of this area was initiated and supported during the Communist regime through the layout of several mountain resorts of national importance within which the length of the ski tracks is noticeable. The main factor that influenced the development of the ski lands in this area is related to the proximity of the capital city, but also of several important towns, such as Braşov, Ploieşti and Piteşti that have provided the resorts with a large and constant flux of tourists. In the years to come, the development prospects of this field are considerable taking into account the growing interest shown by the Romanian tourists in the practice of winter sports, but also the availability of the local authorities towards earning European funds in order to lay out new ski tracks equipped at European standards.

Volume XII |

The old hotels of Transylvania: heritage tourist resources

Abstract: Traveling within the Transylvanian hotels history, we discover the persistence of certain stories that even today fascinate thousands of guests from all over the world. The hotel, as tourist establishment with its main function the accommodation, keeps in the urban area, mainly due to the commerce development. An argument is the fact that in Transylvania, the first hotels have started to function in the fair towns: Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Brasov, in the central area of the city, nearby the fair.  In time, the hotels’ functionality has reached another extent. Nowadays, this type of tourist establishment can become a tourist sights itself. The 21st Century tourist is looking for: values of the past, old histories and experiences that the newly and modernly built hotels cannot offer because they have not had centuries to knit their story. The old hotels of Transylvania can be considered resources of cultural tourism due to their architecture, their uniqueness and persistence in time of their own stories. The present study aims to identify the hotels from the 18th and 19th centuries from the main towns of Transylvania, tourist establishments which can represent important tourist resources for the cultural tourism of the studied region.

Volume XII |

Industrial tourism – trends and opportunities

Abstract: Over the last few decades, new types of destinations appeared in tourism because of the ever growing competition and economic restructuring of regions. In some cases such places became attractions which were considered ugly and unattractive earlier.As part of this process, industrial tourism was also strengthened. This means that former or still operating factories and other industrial facilities have become tourist destinations. This paper reviews the conceptual framework of industrial tourism and presents the main trends in it. We also analyse the possibilities for industrial tourism development in Hungary. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative content analysis of homepages. We investigated homepages of travel agencies, local and regional municipalities and companies to find out whether they see possibilities in industrial tourism or not. According to our results, Hungary despite the existence of rich industrial heritage and still operating factories, industrial tourism is underdeveloped in.

Volume XI |

The wind regime of Romania – Characteristics, trends and North Atlantic oscillation influences

Abstract: The present study attempts to develop a comprehensive perspective of the wind regime on the Romanian territory, focusing on the characteristics and tendencies encountered over the past 50 years, as well as on the NAO projection on it, using several data categories gathered from 167 meteorological stations. Based on the recorded multiannual averages and on the strong correlation (r = 0.87) established between altitude and wind speed in wind exposed areas, we created the map of mean (multi)annual wind speed. The highest aeolian potential corresponds to the Carpathians (7-10 m/s on the ridges and 3-7 m/s on the slopes and within valleys) and the Black Sea Shore (5-7 m/s); nevertheless, the two areas develop extreme values of the wind turbulence – maximum in the Carpathians and minimum in the coastal units. Tablelands in Moldova and Dobrogea, as well as the northern part of Bărăgan show ideal conditions for the development of aeolian parks (moderate and strong winds, low turbulences). On a country-size scale, the month with the highest mean wid speed is March, whereas August is the calmest one. For the first time, the map of resultant wind direction (DRV) was designed, expressing both the resultant wind orrientation and its intensity (high intensity = low directional variability). Concerning NAO, a negative correlation is observed between its indices and the wind speed (mean speed, frequency and intensity of the stromic events) at a multiannual and multidecadal scale. The correlation coefficients present high values in the extra-carpathian areas and small or moderate values in the intra-carpathian areas. The positive (negative) NAO associated with low (high) cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean area induce low (high) winds over the Romanian territory due to diminished (enhanced) frequency of cyclones reaching Romanian regions.