Description
In Romania the tourism services do not respect the principles of sustainable use of natural resources. The objective of the project is to create a national ecotourism destination network that will implement sustainable tourism development principles, integrating protected areas into the regional development. By the end of the project a network of 9 ecotourism destinations will be created through developing and implementing a set of criteria and guidelines regarding the development of sustainable tourism in Romania. The project will benefit over 25 local communities from rural areas, 10 administrations of protected areas in 9 micro-regions, the visitors of these destinations, local governments, local NGO, local tourism business sector, specialists within the National Tourism Authority. The expertise of the National Tourism Authority in the destination evaluation will have a key role in developing and implementing the guidelines and the set of criteria regarding the national ecotourism destination network. The partner will establish the contact with the Global Council of Sustainable Tourism and will be involved in dissemination and event organization.
Summary of project results
The development of ecotourism destinations was at an early stage when the project started. The National Tourism Authority (NTA) had just finished working on the certification system for ecotourism destinations and the know-how level of the tourism professionals in Romania was extremely low. Also, public authorities did not provide any financial support for the development of ecotourism in Romania. The project’s aim was to increase the capacity of the national network of ecotourism destinations that will contribute both to local sustainable development and to conserving the nature. The activities of the project were aimed to create an impact at national level. For example, a guidebook was developed and the evaluation of the criteria for ecotourism destinations was done in accordance with Global Sustainable Tourism Standard in order to obtain international recognition became easier. 16 local representatives of the National Tourism Authority were trained in order to provide relevant information about the ecotourism destination concept. A national event with 83 participants was organised and the online platform promoting ecotourism destinations
www.eco-romania.ro was launched. A series of activities with local impact were carried out for the 10 regions included in the project: 57 people were trained on destination management; a study trip organised at Neusiedler See National Park in Austria helped 14 people to acquire practical knowledge on ecotourism destination management; 16 independent evaluators were trained on Eco-Romania certification system; several trips to the 10 ecotourism destinations were made in order to meet local stakeholders and discuss the problems they face; 36 services were evaluated according to the Eco-Romania certification scheme; 50,000 schematic maps and 9.000 brochures in Romanian and English were produced; local artisans in Tara Dornelor were helped to adapt their products to the market requirements and to include the protected area image in their products. In the end, their products were displayed for sale in the local souvenir shop inside the Calimani National Park visitor Center. The project has generated a paradigm shift in Romanian tourism. This statement is based on the fact that in 2016 NTA led a public information campaign on the management of destinations and generated a public debate on this issue.
Summary of bilateral results