PROMOTING ROMANIA'S CULINARY HERITAGE. CASE STUDY: LOCAL GASTRONOMIC POINTS.

The paper proposes an analysis of the local gastronomic services market in Romania. The growing interest in culinary tourism through Local Gastronomic Points is evident both globally and nationally. Gastronomic tourism can provide unique culinary experiences, especially in rural households. Clarivate, Google Scholar, and Research Gate articles were used for bibliographic research. The necessary data for the research were selected from the reports of the National Agency for Mountain Areas and the statistics of the National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority. The information was statistically processed and graphically represented. The assessment of market concentration was conducted using the Herfindahl-Hirschman and Gini-Struck indices. The research results highlighted the dynamism of the sector against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic but also revealed some deficiencies at the local authorities' level. HHI and GSI values indicate a low market concentration at the county level. Local Gastronomic Point businesses have high development potential, significantly contributing to increasing people's income and rural area development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]