Enhancing Cross-Border Cooperation through Local Actors’ Involvement. The Case of Tourism Cooperation in Bihor (Romania) – Hajdú-Bihar (Hungary) Euroregion

Abstract

For centuries, borders have been considered as firm lines legitimating and defending the essence of the nation-state. However, present times report a redefinition of the role and importance of the border and of the border regions. At European level, the emergence and development of a common European policy have fostered cross-border cooperation (CBC) and self-governance through an increased involvement of local authorities and communities. The paper investigates, both theoretically and based on an empirical quantitative and qualitative research, the role and effectiveness of CBC cooperation in tourism sector in Bihor – Hajdú-Bihar Euroregion.

Local Authorities’ Involvement in Fostering Hungarian-Romanian Cross-Border Cooperation in Tourism

“…The fear of divergent positions was largely wasted; our research results are consistent with previous researches on HU-RO CBC (e.g. Radics et al, 2011;Badulescu et al, 2014;Badulescu et al, 2015;Bujdosó & Dávid, 2015). Differences were revealed, rather, between the professional categories of respondents: more sceptical and critical appear to be the academics, the tourism consultants and tourism companies' representatives (the latter seem to be also, somewhat, disillusioned by the inadequate involvement of other stakeholders);  Concerning in particular the local authorities' representatives, their position is not only the most optimistic but the most coherent and consequent throughout the research.…”

Entrepreneurship and Tourism Through the Lens of Sustainability. Charting the Knowledge Base Through Bibliometric Analysis

“…The importance of education (from the point of view of both supply and consumption), the problems of resilience and succession in family businesses (typical for small and medium tourism businesses), relations with corporate entrepreneurship (large hotel chains and tour operators) were also studied. The connections to economic geography, social and anthropological analyses, all generated inte rest in understanding the relationship between tourism, entrepreneurship, territorial planning and regional development (Williams et al, 1989), cross-border cooperation (Timothy, 1998;Badulescu et al, 2014), and socio-cultural, religious, ethnic influences on tourism and hospitality businesses. Some studies also integrated sustainability in a broader and more humanitarian view, stressing the importance of solving the major problems of humanity, such as the SDG objectives of tourism (UNWTO and UNDP, 2017), the preservation of local cultures and traditions, of the cultural heritage of humanity (Jeffrey, 2018), the protection of small communities, the equitable share of benefits stemming from tourism, environmental protection, etc.…”

The Use of Collaborative Platforms in Romania and Eu: A Comparative View

“…Thus, in the field of transport of uber drivers, the majority having higher education are taking over the work of taxi drivers, most of whom have average education. Similarly in the area of accommodation, Airbnb takes over a significant part of the people who previously looked for accommodation in hotels.This leads to restructuring in terms of the workforce required in a hotel, and those who suffer the most are all those with average education or workers, such as cleaning staff (Badulescu and Badulescu, 2012), (Badulescu et al, 2014). The lack of solid regulations in the field is another reason for criticism of the sharing economy.…”