INNOVATION IN RURAL TOURISM -- EVIDENCE FROM CLUJ COUNTY.

Innovation in rural tourism represents a source both for increasing productivity and for improving tourists' satisfaction as well. The main benefits reported by innovators are a significant increase in the number of tourists and in the length of stay, while the others are struggling to attract tourists. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the innovation activities implemented by the units acting in Cluj County's rural tourism. We applied a semi structured interview with business owners based on OECD approach of innovation. We focused on the identification of innovative activities (product innovation, process innovation, organizational innovation and marketing innovation) and on the innovation's sources, obstacles and results. We also tried to describe the profile of the innovator in terms of age, level of studies, experience in tourism before starting the business or training in tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]