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The terms rural tourism and agritourism can be considered synonymous, but there are differences even though they share certain identifying elements. Agritourism appeared as a solution to in-crease the income of rural households, by capitalizing on their economic potential, however the main activity remained agriculture. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the situation of agritourism in Romania approached from different perspectives such as: rural development, traditional products, and landscape integrations. The methodology used in this study is a systematic literature review where the search process was carried out using keywords such as: "Agritourism in Romania" or "Rural development in Romania" or "Integration of the rural landscape in Romania". The research was conducted and filtered through the Prisma guidelines in 30 papers that were highlighted in the Results section. In concluding this research paper, we would like to say that there are many factors that should be considered to find a viable solution to help develop rural communities and simultaneously safeguarding the environment and using natural resources responsibly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the huge economic and social disparities between urban and rural areas of Romania, it is important to investigate the local community perception on the perceived impact of the rural development strategies, provided that local strategies should be developed based on citizens’ needs. The study represents a first step towards a more complex research to evaluate the degree of satisfaction and wellbeing of the rural communities from Cluj County, following the implementation of the rural development programs. The research was conducted on the basis of primary data obtained from citizens of Cuzdrioara, a commune from Cluj County which represents a particular case, as its position allows the direct connection to national roads. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed for comparisons of proportions, while Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal Wallis test were used for the comparisons of scale scores between respondents. Through the objectives of the Local Development Strategy, Cuzdrioara commune aims to improve the way of life of the inhabitants by achieving the objectives proposed in the strategy. Many projects have been completed, being positively assessed by the citizens. The public administration fulfilled the objectives established in the Local Development Strategy. [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]

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]