PERSPECTIVES AND STRATEGIES OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance of religious tourism in sustainable development and to find effective strategies through marketing optics and methodology. The issue of religious tourism is a topical one and not without controversy. Romanian tourism is currently facing many problems, such as: reduced turnover, very frequent changes in the legal framework, very rigid labor market, a deficient infrastructure in quantity and quality, repeated changes in the behavior of economic agents and population, an unfavorable economic environment. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was conducted among tourism producers, intermediaries and tourists in the Neamţ region - one of the most important tourist areas in Romania and also an important region with religious and rural tourism destinations. The results showed that there is a special concern regarding religious tourism and could contribute to the local development of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]