Abstract:In this paper we propose to highlight the tourism evolution and its intensity in the North-East region of Romania, compared to two regions with similar touristic potential from the Eastern European Union: Subcarpathia from Poland and Central Slovakia. We analysed if the EU attachment of Romania, Poland, and Slovakia had some effects on tourism development in the three regions mentioned. Issues arising from the analysis of the current situation of tourism will allow us to draw some sustainable development directions of tourism in the North-East region based on conserving and capitalizing the uniqueness of the area. We will consider the experience of the other two regions, trying to adapt them to the situation of the North-East region. Based on the analysis we have made, we consider that other countries can inspire us by authorities' initiatives in supporting tourism, good human resources training, entrepreneurship stimulation, and assistance in accessing financial resources, including EU ones.

This paper aims to illustrate in the context of the challenges of the Europeanization process what kind of cooperation models there exist between nature-based tourism companies and the critical stakeholder groups effecting the business activities and social sustainability of the companies. The following topics are part of our current research: which are the cooperation strategy; which are the management models applied in countries with competitive market and strong innovation policy; which are the costs of implementing innovation policies for cooperation strategies enhancing the innovation in nature based tourism services; which barriers avoid the entrepreneurship development and how innovative can be the firm management. We intend to analyze the importance of stakeholders and policy influence enhancing the innovation in nature based tourism service, in Greece, Austria, Finland and Romania case studies. The research will continue with a comparison between these cases, including the perspective of supporting entrepreneurship and regional competitiveness in Romania.

The research aim was to identify the training needs of entrepreneurs and employees within small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the Suceava, Chernivtsi, and Bălți regions, to analyze the specific training practices in the cross-border area, and to identify the common features or the disparities. The research contains an exploratory survey, based on a semi-structured questionnaire that investigates the training needs in the SMEs and specific training practices with a comparative approach. The results relate to the challenges faced by transformation economies and by the specificities of SMEs from these remote areas. Additionally, the research connects the factors involved in planning and delivering training programs for employees in SMEs in this EU peripheral area with the weaknesses of the companies in facing the market competitive economy. The results of the survey disclosed some common features and specificities related to training needs, training responsibilities, and interests in the SMEs from this cross-border area. The discussions are relevant for different categories of stakeholders, at the micro-level, for the management of the companies, but also on a larger scale, in planning the new development programs for the labor market in the targeted areas.

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