Managing A Sustainable Tourism Development In Bihor County – Romania

Due to growing challenges and growing gap between the expectations of this complex system which is tourism and facts, it is necessary to find new forms, methods and techniques that lead to sustainable development of an area, region, country. Bihor County is located in northwestern Romania and noteworthy for tourism are: the natural environment (thermal waters, the mountains, caves, biodiversity and climate, protected natural areas) cultural and historical heritage (folk subareas, ethnic diversity and unity, festivals and events) and specific infrastructure built heritage. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of Bihor’s tourism are main two. First Bihor County has a rich tourism potential – part of the Romanian territorial capital, but it is insufficiently known and valued. Second, there are certain components - valuable, rare, inimitable - that may be the "engine" of development for an innovative tourism, competitive and sustainable in Bihor county. In Bihor there are some successfully practiced forms of tourism that respect the principles of sustainable tourism: agro-tourism, rural tourism, eco-tourism - backpack tourism (backpacking), alternative urban tourism, educational tourism - volunteering tourism. The good results achieved in practicing these forms of tourism, which must be supported by policies, legislation, infrastructure and incentives for business can then be transferred to the domain of mountain, spa and cultural tourism in Bihor, according to model proposed by us. In developing tourism development model for Bihor we considered the economic aspect (development of viable economic activities in the long term, ensuring equitable benefits for all economic actors involved, increasing the welfare of local people), socio-cultural aspect (respect for the authenticity of socio-cultural settlements, preservation of cultural heritage and traditional values, increased tolerance) and environmental problems (rational and responsible use of resources, protection of biodiversity, stimulating the development activities based on the principles of environmental protection).