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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]

Tourism is a multi-faced activity that links the economic, social and environmental components of sustainability. This research analyzes rural residents' perceptions of the impact of tourism development and examines the factors that influence the support for sustainable tourism development in the region of Nord-Vest in Romania. Residents' perceptions towards tourism development were measured using 22 items, while their support for tourism development was determined using 8 items. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Principal component analysis grouped the first 22 variables into 4 factors, and the following 8 variables into 2 factors (sustainable development, destination development). Findings indicate that residents see tourism as a development factor. The natural, economic, and social-cultural environment as well as infrastructure, age, gender and education are factors that influence the sustainable development of tourism. [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]

Tourism represents a viable alternative for economic activities in rural areas, and improves the living standards of the communities. The aim of the paper is to assess residents' perceptions towards tourism destination quality in the North-West Development Region of Romania using the following items: natural attractions: cultural and social attractions; accommodation; food; availability of transportation to destination area; quality of information and communication; hospitality of host community; feeling of security and safety. A survey was conducted to collect the data and a total of 433 questionnaires were validated and analyzed. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Principal component analysis, ANOVA, Scheffe multiple range test) were used to analyze the data. Results show that there are statistically significant differences in residents' perceptions between counties. Two of the components of destination quality (general infrastructure and tourism potential) are affected by the gender of residents, while the level of education has no significant effect. A weak and indirect correlation was found between the age of residents and their perception towards a quality destination. This study makes two contributions to the existing literature. First, a questionnaire was developed based on the QUALITEST tool adapted to the realities of the research area. Second, we analyzed the perception of residents towards a quality destination in relation to their socio-demographic characteristics and county of residence. Understanding the implications of tourism development from the residents' point of view helps to increase knowledge about the factors affecting the long-term, sustainable success of tourism destinations. [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]