Luiza Souca

Rapid population expansion and poorly managed economic growth, unprecedented anthropogenic climate changes, non-renewable natural resources depletion, environmental pollution, social inequity, and loss of cultural integrity generate a global context that calls for urgent adoption of a sustainable development approach in major industries, including tourism. Sustainable tourism development requires the mobilization of tourism stakeholders at all levels and on the demand side through actions related to the travel decision-making process. To stimulate attitude formation and adoption of sustainable tourist behaviors, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)—the main organizations responsible for sustainable destination development—need to adopt sustainable-oriented communication actions when building the destination image. As tourism stakeholders’ perspective is under-investigated for destination image projection and communication, this paper aimed at assessing the integration of sust...

Creative tourism is a current topic, yet most of the research is focused on the urban context, with few articles focusing on how creativity can be used and developed in the setting of rural tourism. Furthermore, the theoretical elements identified in this article can become checkpoints through which better strategies for sustainable rural tourism can be developed in the future. Although rich in culture, Romanian villages have not developed their rural tourism offer to its full potential, partly because of the lack of involvement of the local community in long-term tourism planning and development, but also due to the changes in what tourists want from their tourism experience. In response to shifting patterns in consumer behavior, creative tourism has emerged as a better form of cultural tourism, but mostly in urban areas, which has led to a proliferation of creative industries and people within that specific context. The study proposes that most Romanian rural communities in areas ...

Specificities of the Life Cycle of Rural Tourism Area Destinations - This is an exploratory article, that focuses on the specificities of the tourism area life cycle for rural tourism destinations. We start by laying down the theoretical framework and then we focus on a case study from Romania (Vama, Suceava). Based on our findings, we suggest that, for rural tourism destinations, the stages of involvement, development and consolidation can be treated as a single growth stage, that is likely to be followed by a long-term stabilization. Decline and rejuvenation are unlikely, unless brought about by a major external shock. The article recommends that these conclusions should be treated as hypotheses to be tested using quantitative research.

The Romanian destinations with religious significance are faced with a constant and continuous flow of visitors, many of whom are pilgrims, but these places have also become destinations for mass tourism. The purpose of this paper is to determine the market"s dimensions regarding the travellers whose destinations are Romanian religious settlements, and also some capacity indicators for this particular market. The study is the result of a questionnaire based research applied to over 1500 subjects. The results have shown a high degree of expansion for this type of travel but a low degree of market concentration.

The current paper used content analysis to examine 50 commercials featuring the most internationally visited cities in the world as of 2019. It analyzed the components, scenes, and frames used to create the projected image of an attractive tourism destination, appealing to tourists from all walks of life. Regardless of the region to which the city belongs, most promotional videos used items from all the significant dimensions identified: natural resources; atmosphere of the place; culture, history, art; tourist infrastructure; entertainment resources; shopping resources; social environment; other resources. Overall, the most common frames identified were outdoor sports activities, historical and archeological buildings, and restaurants, and fine dining. In contrast, the least common frames were tourist information center, smart city aspects, and awards and distinctions. The analysis shows that most Asia and the Pacific, and European cities choose frames depicting historical and arch...

The development of rural tourism in Romania, although it is thought to be a major component of the tourism industry, has not been harmonious. The difference in rural tourism development can be attributed to natural, cultural, historical and religious resources available, since most of the rural pensions were created in the areas best known to both the national market and the international one: Alba – historical and natural sites starting from 1995 until 2008, followed by a drop in 2009; Brasov – Bran Castle, Suceava – the Moldavian Monasteries.1 Despite that, investment in rural tourism has had positive results. The data from the National Institute of Statistics show a steady increase in the arrivals of tourists to rural pensions from all over the country in 2010, and then a powerful recovery in 2011, proving once again that tourism can be a very important element in beating the economic crisis (INSE, 2012). Romanian tourists dominate the scene, making up for 93.15% of arrivals in 2...

The design and implementation of a value proposition requires commitment by firms which should constantly readapt goods and services to customers’ expectation and environmental feedback. The aim of this work is to discuss preliminary results from an exploratory survey conducted by University Sports Center of Messina (CUS) on a sample of 302 students, identified by proportional stratified sampling among those registered in each of the ten Faculties of the University. The questionnaire, online and offline distributed, wanted to gather information on the interviewees’ attitudes to sport and on their level of knowledge of CUS and its activities and services. From the analysis of the data some important issues were identified in order to improve the market positioning of the Center, to implement the portfolio of goods and services and to define new tools to make students active contributors in the definition of strategic choices.

The Romanian destinations with religious significance are faced with a constant and continuous flow of visitors, many of whom are pilgrims, but these places have also become destinations for mass tourism. The purpose of this paper is to determine the market’s dimensions regarding the travellers whose destinations are Romanian religious settlements, and also some capacity indicators for this particular market. The study is the result of a questionnaire based research applied to over 1500 subjects. The results have shown a high degree of expansion for this type of travel but a low degree of market concentration.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important concepts in economic research literature, having been the focus of countless studies. However, as economic knowledge enhances, there is a need for defining new concepts related to satisfaction, which place emphasis on different aspects: customer dissatisfaction and customer delight. Observing that researchers still have not yet adopted a clear definition of the concepts, nor reached a consensus regarding the relationship between the three constructs, the current paper aims to provide a clearer image of the three terms, by emphasizing both the differences between them and the common elements, which in turn can be used in the creation of better measurement scales for more adequate research instruments. The method of research is analysis of secondary data, collected from relevant literature on satisfaction through snowball technique. The findings suggest that the main difference between customer satisfaction and customer delight is the...

To create a positive visitor experience, a key factor in obtaining economic benefits, the tourism industry must pay attention to all the elements that contribute to it, especially to accessibility. Visitor accessibility encompasses all tourism markets including seniors and people with disabilities, who have been defined through accessible tourism. This article offers a short presentation of the term accessible tourism, the existing research in the field and the main reasons why the worldwide tourism industry is seemly unaware of this particular market.

ABSTRACT Creative tourism is a current topic, yet most of the research is focused on the urban context, with few articles focusing on how creativity can be used and developed in the setting of rural tourism. Furthermore, the theoretical elements identified in this article can become checkpoints through which better strategies for sustainable rural tourism can be developed in the future. Although rich in culture, Romanian villages have not developed their rural tourism offer to its full potential, partly because of the lack of involvement of the local community in long-term tourism planning and development, but also due to the changes in what tourists want from their tourism experience. In response to shifting patterns in consumer behavior, creative tourism has emerged as a better form of cultural tourism, but mostly in urban areas, which has led to a proliferation of creative industries and people within that specific context. The study proposes that most Romanian rural communities in areas pertaining to tourism already have local individuals with some of the characteristics of the creative people necessary for the development of creative tourism. By involving the entire local community in tourism planning, and not just the local actors with direct ties to it, Romanian rural tourism can be revitalized.