Experiences of community-based tourism in Romania: chances and challenges

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives in the post-socialist rural Romania in terms of the holism of the tourist project and the implementation of the local participation. The paper focusses on chances and challenges of CBT. Design/methodology/approach Once the main objective was established, three research interests arose: How and why tourism played a significant role in the economic and social development of the rural local community? How has the local community participated in the starting and maintenance of the CBT projects and who played a key part? How can the level of success of the CBT implementations be qualitatively measured? Qualitative methodologies (interviews, on-site observations, informal discussions) were applied to survey the four case studies. Findings Natural and cultural features ensure a versatile potential for touristic exploitation of the Romanian rural area, but the villages are endangered by post-socialist economic and social transformations. Innovative approaches of CBT in rural areas ignited by charismatic leaders with entrepreneurial spirit develop based on the existent social, natural and cultural capital, but on the other hand, endeavours can be vulnerable because of hindering local municipalities or sustainability issues. Practical implications The findings facilitate recommendations in favour of effective CBT ventures. Originality/value Learning about the contribution of CBT to a sustainable development of rural regions with no/little tradition of private entrepreneurship can contribute to the revitalization of rural areas facing post-socialist challenges.

Expansion and Specification of Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes and Practices Survey Model for Community-Based Tourism Development

“…Thus, CBT emerged within the context of the alternative development approaches of the 1970s, whose motive was to empower communities in pursuit of social justice and sustainability [15]. It also represents a response against external business investors who want to take advantage of the touristic potential in communities [16]. Therefore, CBT confronts the inequalities induced by conventional tourism in developing countries by attempting, for instance, financial leakages that stifle the socio-economic development in tourist destinations [16].…”

“…It also represents a response against external business investors who want to take advantage of the touristic potential in communities [16]. Therefore, CBT confronts the inequalities induced by conventional tourism in developing countries by attempting, for instance, financial leakages that stifle the socio-economic development in tourist destinations [16]. It can be said that CBT can used as a vehicle for the promotion of community-led socio-economic development in communities by the communities, in pursuit of self-reliance and sustainability.…”

Impact of competitive capabilities empowered by community-based tourism projects on tourism businesses success in rural tourism destinations

“…In the past literature, the importance of CBT was discussed in terms of several aspects such as an important generator of business opportunity for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), an effective vehicle for dispersing economic benefits within and among economies, particularly at the local level, and a catalyst for partnership between the public and private sectors (Nair & Hamzah, 2015, P.430). As a replacement for managing the local economy by using "top-to-bottom" approach, presently, the "bottom-up" form of community participatory approach to tourism management and planning is applied for development and sustainability perspectives (Lekaota, 2015;Havadi-Nagy & Espinosa Segui, 2020). Therefore, the host communities in the rural tourism destinations have been identified as the vital agents who should bear the hard role of being the guarantors of the economic processes taking place in their areas (Havadi-Nagy & Espinosa Segui, 2020), ensuring sustainability in terms of Planet, People and Profit (Amir, 2015) and offering diversified tourism activities to attract and satisfy visitors (Fong & Lo, 2015).…”

“…As a replacement for managing the local economy by using "top-to-bottom" approach, presently, the "bottom-up" form of community participatory approach to tourism management and planning is applied for development and sustainability perspectives (Lekaota, 2015;Havadi-Nagy & Espinosa Segui, 2020). Therefore, the host communities in the rural tourism destinations have been identified as the vital agents who should bear the hard role of being the guarantors of the economic processes taking place in their areas (Havadi-Nagy & Espinosa Segui, 2020), ensuring sustainability in terms of Planet, People and Profit (Amir, 2015) and offering diversified tourism activities to attract and satisfy visitors (Fong & Lo, 2015). Many researchers (for example, -Cañizares & Castillo-Canalejo, 2014;Okazaki, 2008) pointed out that CBT is a unique type of tourism in which the community plays a key role through the active involvement and participation in the whole process of tourism planning and implementation as well as the travelers got more excitement and diverse experience.…”

“…However, the argument behind this CBT concept was that the marginalized people in the rural tourism destinations are new to the tourism businesses, suffer from severe poverty, inappropriate know-how, capacity, competitive capabilities, and etc. Hence, they are unable to reach their full potential to sustain in the industry (Sriyani, 2021;Havadi-Nagy & Espinosa Segui, 2020). Meanwhile facing the severe competition is another big challenge for them.…”