Involvement of Rural Tourism Operators in the Project “Sibiu European Gastronomic Region”

In the context of the activities specific to the “Sibiu European Gastronomic Region in the year of 2019” project, the sustainable rural development of the five micro regions (Marginimea Sibiului, Olt Country, Hârtibaciului Valley, Târnavelor Valley and Secaselor Land), aims to bring a new concept of integrated and systemic approach to the role of promoting traditional activities in which gastronomy plays an important role. Gastronomic touristic products incorporate values of environment, landscape, parts of local culture, traditions, local cuisine, traditional costumes, local food and rituals, associated with gastronomic experience – the way the edibles are served and presented, as well as ingredients, preparation methods. Identifying the culinary destination is one of the challenges of creating touristic products, in which an important role goes to guesthouses. The aim of the paper is to analyze the preferences of the tourists for practicing gastronomic tourism and the involvement of the rural tourism operators in the project, taking into account the types of preferred events. In this regard, it has been elaborated a questionnaire for the tourists accommodated in the rural and agro-touristic guesthouses from two micro regions representative of the Sibiu County, respectively Hârtibaciului Valley and Marginimea Sibiului. Also, there have been held discussions with the guesthouse’s administrators, who are actively implicated in the diversification of the mass tourist services supply by designing new tourist products, which incorporate traditional reinterpreted recipes, accompanied by a story of the place and source of raw material.