The Consumption Decision in Rural Tourism and Models of Rural Tourism in South Transylvania

Rural tourism has developed in the recent years due to the desire of people to return to their roots and to connect more to nature, away from the crowdedness of the city. Moreover, the fact that a lot of entrepreneurs tend to develop their business in the rural area has lead to an extension of rural services and products. The growth of tourists' interest for visiting rural areas encouraged the residents of inland villages to the new development and new entrepreneurial orientation-tourism. Regardless of the rural area or the country where the rural tourism is practiced, the rural tourist profile tends to have a series of common elements. These include the desire to escape from the city and to integrate into the rural life from the village, the desire to relax, the desire to spend free time with family or any other person in a natural setting and not least, the desire to know the culture of the rural space, with all that it entails. In Romania the rural tourist bases its consumption decision on the intagible and tangible assets that can represent a heritage to be explored, mainly in the perspective of untouch and well preserved traditions at which one can assist. As a result, the tourist who visits these places is supposed to be eager to know the Romanian traditions, to participate in an active way in the life of the village, as it is lived by the members of the community and to enjoy beautiful scenary. So, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the rural consumption decision, the factors that can influence it and to recognize some general tourism models that can be applied in rural area.