Vol. XVIII, no.2/2018

Our History is Geography . . .

By Marius-Cristian Neacsu

Protecting National and Cultural Heritage While Promoting Cultural Tourism in Romania – Unsolvable Dilemma or Missed Opportunity?

By Diana Ioncică, Maria Ioncica, Eva-Cristina Petrescu, Anca Atanase

The current paper tackles the thorny issue of cultural tourism in Romania, trying to ascertain whether there is an actual chance of promoting it successfully in our country, without further damage to an already endangered national cultural patrimony. The question is whether we were facing a dilemma with little chances of being solved to our advantage – namely, if the promotion of cultural tourism would pose a threat or present an opportunity to a domain in which, unfortunately, very little has been done in recent years. The goal of the paper is twofold – it is meant, on the one hand, as a strong alarm signal, a wake-up call as to the necessity of a coherent, well-funded strategy regarding the promotion of cultural tourism in Romania, and on the other hand as a cautionary tale – one that could envisage what might happen if such a strategy were incorrectly devised and applied. Some hints in that direction are unfortunately already at hand, amply visible when considering the current situation of some essential sites to our cultural and national identity. Some of the case studies we discussed include The Danube Delta, Dacian sites, Bucovina Monasteries, or the Old Town area in our capital, Bucharest.

The Food Safety Culture of A Night Market

By Hans Josef Catedral

Night markets are a popular food destination among tourists in Southeast Asia. The off-premise nature of these destinations results in a higher risk for food contamination which has brought about the need to improve food safety culture in these destinations. Previous studies have focused primarily on food sanitation practices of vendors; however, food safety culture has been highlighted in recent years as an effective means for improving safety practices. That is why, the study examined the food safety culture of vendors of a night market in Cebu City, Philippines. This descriptive research utilized self-administered survey questionnaires to 40 night market vendors. Results showed high mean scores in the indicators of management and coworker support, communication and self-commitment while lower scores on environment support, work pressure and risk judgment. It is concluded that employees’ workload, provision of timely information and feedback are indicators that increase the level of food safety culture. The study highlights the role of management as food safety procedures are followed at a certain extent but time and management pressures contribute to a decrease in following safe food handling.

Cultural and Rural Tourism: Potential Synergies for A New Economic Development Pattern. The Italian Case

By Grazia Calabrò, Simon Vieri

Thanks to its important naturalistic, historical, cultural and artistic heritage, Italy is one of the countries with the greatest tourist vocation in the world. Consequently, tourism is the most important productive sector in the Italian economy, with an impact just below 12% on GDP. During the long period of economic crisis that affected the major world economies, between 2008 and 2014, some parts of the Italian tourism, including seaside for example, declined. This decline, at an aggregate level, has been however balanced by the development of cultural tourism. About 37% of external demand is attributed to expenditures for holidays in art heritage cities, representing the most dynamic part of Italian tourism. Although with more modest absolute values, agritourism and food and wine tourism are dynamic parts of the Italian tourism too and, sometimes, they are linked with cultural tourism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the development of cultural tourism, agritourism and food and wine tourism can be a single goal of economic policy aimed at creating new growth strategies in order to overcome the effects of the economic crisis. Organizing as a single economic system the different parts of Italian tourism can be the most coherent action in order to cope with the different development needs and potentialities of Italy, whose economic system is traditionally linked to the territorial values.

Opportunities To Capitalize The Resources Of Gastronomic Tourism

By Virgil Nicula, Simona Spanu, Christian Hell

This paper presents some opportunities for developing a new way to capitalize local resources through gastronomic tourism. Gastronomic tourism products incorporate environmental values, landscape, parts of the local culture, traditions, local cuisine, traditional costumes, local food and the rituals associated with the gastronomic experience -how foods are served and presented, ingredients, preparation methods. Identification of the culinary landscape tourist destination is one of the challenges of creating tourism products, in which an important role have the agritourist pensions from the five micro regions of Sibiu County. Gastronomy plays an indispensable role in promoting tourism at a regional and local level. Therefore, the creation of gastronomic tourism products is seen as a priority tourist destination that can offer experiences in this regard. Motivations of choosing tourist destination "Sibiu - European gastronomic region" are related to cultural and natural attractions, special events and festivals, food experiences in each micro-region, gourmet connections, social interaction and emotional, but also other opportunities for recreation and entertainment. In order to organize and promote the gastronomic tourism in the rural areas of Sibiu, it is necessary the establishment of partnerships among tourism providers (households / farmers in the rural community), local authorities, other economic providers of tourism related services, travel agencies etc. Only by working together they can solve the major problems of development and promotion of this form of tourism in the context of socio-economic development of rural communities, with beneficial effects on local tourism. Without a general infrastructure development and tourist facilities, one cannot speak of a competitive tourism in either micro-regions or localities.

The Economic Potential Of Cultural Heritage In The Rural Society Of Romania: The Case Of North Dobrudja

By Luciana Floriana Holostencu

Rural tourism is an element of cultural and ethnic identity of the Romanian people, being directly related to the evolution and prosperity of the community. The traditional Romania's settlement has always been based on the cooperation between its residents, partnership which has led to the preservation of customs, pilgrimages and other traditional holidays. Unfortunately, in the recent decades, the economy, population, and even the well-known natural landscape of a traditional settlement have undergone significant changes, affecting by a negative manner its identity and prosperity. The objective of this research is to analyze the attitudes of different population members(both young and seniors) towards the tangible heritage of an unique region of Romania, the northern area of Dobrudja, from the perspective of the late changes. Disparities in specific bias, the willingness to be involved in the local activities and the approach regarding the sustainable conservation and economic progress of cultural built heritage assets were discovered to correlate with age and inclusion to a specific group. The cross-examination of the personal attitudes of people who are living in the rural area regarding its cultural heritage and its commercial potential may lead to the development of a specific guideline for the preservation and sustainable development of these cultural assets in a new rural area.

From Izmir To Marrakech – Sustainable Tourism Through Slow Tourism And Gastronomy

By Oana Diana Crîșmariu, Diana Dumitru, Gabriela Țigu

The paper aims to present the existing situation in the countries of Turkey and Morocco, in particular in Izmir and Marrakech on how these cities have managed to promote their touristic offer by highlighting the local gastronomy and slow tourism, two components that are integrated by sustainable tourism. The paper presents some of the similarities and differences between the ways the two cities come to meet the needs of the tourists with regard to the local gastronomy, slow tourism and sustainable tourism. Based on the findings, the paper presents a successful model combining slow tourism, gastronomic tourism and sustainable tourism that could successfully be applied in other regions or countries.