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Recent global events, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine leaded to unprecedented challenges for companies worldwide. This study examines the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on small companies in agriculture, animal breeding, and the services sector in Romania. A survey was conducted among 110 beneficiaries of a microfinance company. The respondents evaluated the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on income, expenses, and the economic situation using a set of 8 items, evaluated on a 5 points Likert scale type. The results revealed that the analyzed companies were most affected by the increase in fuel price and electricity price. Despite a moderate impact on income decrease, there were significant differences regarding the effect of the increase of interest rates, savings reduction, and liquidity reduction among different types of companies. Limited Liability Companies (L.L.C.s) were the most affected. Most companies are seeking solutions to reduce energy costs. These findings suggest a need for targeted interventions to mitigate the impact of crises situations on small companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays the training courses represent a real problem, and more and more people are interested in improving or developing new skills in order to improve their professional status. This article examines the factors that influence the quality of the training courses held by FAER organization. The training courses are addressed to the future entrepreneurs. The courses were related to various fields: management, marketing, finance and other economic subjects. Due to the basic characteristics of the services it is difficult to evaluate the quality of this kind of activity. To achieve the purpose of the paper a survey was conducted using the SERVQUAL method. The total number of respondents that participated in this survey was 194. The results reveal the fact that the training courses did not achieve the expectations of the participants and the main problems which were indicated are related to the schedule and the ability of the professors to communicate and make the participants feel comfortable during the classes. To increase the quality of these courses it is recomanded to pay attention also to the relation between the lectures and the praticipants, not only to the quantity and the quality of the provided material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to success in any business an important factor is considered to be the quality of the services delivered to customers. The paper presents the tourists' satisfaction with respect to the services offered by the rural guesthouses. Lodging represents an important part of the holiday. According to the available legislation of Romania there are more than 10 different types of accommodation facilities which can be certificated to assure the tourists' services. Hitherto in Romania the certification of accommodation facilities is due only based on the technical characteristics. For the main objective of the paper a survey was conducted in 2 flowers and 3 flowers rural guesthouses. The respondents were asked to evaluate the quality of the services by using the SERVQUAL model. The quality of the services offered by the rural guesthouses did not meet the tourists' expectations for none of the comfort categories. For future research it is recommended to conduct a similar study at the nation level to determine if only the technical characteristics are enough or not to certificate an accommodation unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the particularities of the supply and demand in Vatra Dornei SPA resort, which is located in the North-East part of Romania, in Suceava County. In order to face the new challenges of the market the supply needs to adapt to the new trend. This is not possible without knowing the tourists profile. In the first part of the paper is presented the literature review about the importance and the trends regarding the deveplemnt of the health and wellness tourism. The paper continues with the description of the analyzed area and the research methods used. The research method used was the survey and the main indicators used to analyze the demand and supply were: number of tourists, overnights stay, average length of stay, number of accommodation facilities and the occupancy rate. In order to achieve the purpose of the present paper a study was conducted in Vatra Dornei in the period July-August 2011. The statistical data about the supply were analyzed and debated and a survey was conducted on 150 tourists. The results show that the supply still needs to be adapted to the tourists profile and to the national thermal tourism development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the steps of estimating the recreation value of a national park by combining two non-market valuation methods: the Travel Cost Method and the Contingent Valuation Method. The questionnaire was designed according to both methods by formulating specific questions. The survey was implemented in Piatra Craiului National Park during the summer of 2011, one of the most visited national parks from Romania. The recreation value in terms of consumer surplus per trip is derived from the Poisson model and in terms of willingness to pay per trip from the random effects probit model. It was found that tourists gain significant benefits from recreating in the park. The estimated recreation values are expressed in monetary units and provide justification for attracting funds for developing tourism opportunities in a sustainable way. Moreover, the findings show that tourists are aware of the value of the park and do appreciate the opportunities offered by the park administrations. However, the process of revealing the benefits people gain after visiting the park should receive more attention from the decision makers when developing the management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has as the main objective the comparative analysis of production costs in fruits trees ecological agriculture as well as for conventional agriculture. Sequentially, it was determinated the expenses changes that occur on similar farms in the two analyzed farming systems: ecological and conventional, using a survey instrument, a questionnaire which, provided data necessary to analyze differences in costs for different agricultural production. Based on the results of the comparative study, it can be observed that there are significant differences in the variable production costs and gross margin of each culture, the lowest gross margin are recorded, mainly, for the farms on the conversion period, proving the necessity for supporting the ecological agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the particularities of participants' profile to trainings. The research was conducted in April 2012 in four counties of Romania: Arges, Bistrita-Nasaud, Mures and Suceava. The research method was de survey based on questionnaire. The sample size was of 194 respondents. The study revealed that the participants in training are mainly female, with high education level and low income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a research conducted in the Tarnava Mare Region by setting up an original tool based on QUALITEST and SERVQUAL methods, having as main objective to determine the quality of the region as a tourist destination. The working method used was a social survey based on questionnaire. Research carried out revealed that tourist services in general and of the tourist guesthouses, in particular, are difficult to quantify in terms of quality, being based mainly on emotional impressions. Because of that, a continuous adaptation of research instruments is needed in order to determine the most valuable future directions for the development of the region in terms of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is a first step for estimating the main characteristics of the visitors from the Tarnava Mare Region. For assuring and for offering a high quality level of tourist services, as a competitive advantage for investors (in term of increasing the number of tourists and, implicitly, the turnover and profit), the profile of the visitors must be was studied using a direct survey by implementing a questionnaire using QUALITEST and SERVQUAL instruments, for observing the expected qualitative level of tourist destination. The research offers valuable information for determining relevant conclusions that can be used a fundament for diversifying and adapting the tourist offers as an important element for increasing the attractiveness of tourist destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research describes the farms' characteristics from Kurdistan Regional Government. To achieve the aim of the paper during June-September 2012, 236 questionnaires were applied to the farmers from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The analysis was conducted for each of the three governorates of the region (Duhok, Erbil and Suleimani) and for two precipitation zones: A area with an average rain higher than 500mm/year and B area with an average rain less than 500 mmm/year. The results indicated that the average size of the farm in KRG in 2011 was around 13 hectares. In the attempt of reducing the negative impact of the water deficit on the production, the farmers from B area increased their cultivated surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural areas are meeting considerable challenges today which arise mainly from globalization, demographic change and the rural migration -to-urban migration. Rural farmers were account the prominent part of the population of any developing country such as Kurdistan Region. When the rural farmers lack access to knowledge, general services, early warning systems (drought, pests, diseases etc.), improved seedlings, fertilizer, lack of agricultural equipments, credit, market prices and lack of information that would help them achieve maximum agricultural yield, they are not only grope in the dark but are driven to the urban centres in search of formal employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the perceived quality of tourist services from Tarnava Mare. The main objective of the research was to evaluate the quality of the rural guesthouses by using the SERVQUAL method. The SERVQUAL method permitted to develop e new research instrument adapted to the type of analyzed services (rural tourism accommodation facilities). The survey was made during the period august 2010-april 2011. The analysis of the 22 statements revealed that the main problem of the accommodation guesthouses was related to their availability of solving the tourists' demands, even if the other aspects related to the staff behavior was evaluated positive. The problems are mainly due to the fact that the owners are those which assure the services' delivery, and in most of the cases the tourists' activity represents a complementary activity. As solutions for all these negative aspects can be mention participation to trainings, hire qualified staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism represents a sector which has developed during the last decades. The number of those which travel for leisure increased year by year. According to the data offered by UNWTO in 2011 the international tourists' arrivals reached a total of 980 million, up from 939 million in 2010. At the national level according the National Institute for Statistics press release, the number of the arrivals increased by 16%, while the overnights stay increased by 12.2% in 2011 compared to 2010. Based on these facts and the Minister of Regional Development and Tourism strategies researches need to be conducted to determinate the tourism demand structure and tourists1 preferences for services [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the studied socio-economic, it was observed that the recession and the economic crisis had negative effects, since the investments, both in public and in private sectors were not sufficient to cover all the needs. Also, it can be seen that local authorities had not enough resources and/or they were unable to create a coherent strategy for effectively combating the negative consequences of the economic depreciation over communities. So, the need for entrepreneurship skills of people, both through the need to develop the current business environment and the availability of people to attend and take advantage of later knowledge gained is more stringent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Questionnaire Design for Analyzing the Production Costs from Ecological and Conventional Agriculture," by Felix H. Arion, Iulia C. Mureşan, Alexandru V. Simu is presented.

An abstract of the article "Localized Products. Present and Forecasted Realities in Romania," by Ileana Andreica, Felix H. Arion, Iulia C. Mureşan is presented.