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The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?

Author

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  • Corneliu Iațu

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; 700506 Iași, Romania)

  • Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu

    (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in European Studies, Faculty of Law, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, 700506 Iași, Romania)

  • Oana Mihaela Stoleriu

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; 700506 Iași, Romania)

  • Alina Munteanu

    (Research Department, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; 700506 Iași, Romania)

Abstract

The presence of World Heritage Sites has been frequently used as a mean of tourism promotion and increased attractiveness. However, previous studies showed contradictory results regarding the territorial impact of World Heritage Sites, and very few researchers discussed their impact in Eastern Europe. This paper examines how the presence of World Heritage Sites in rural localities influenced the tourism growth and sustainable development in Romania after 2000. Independent Sample t -test was used to analyse the evolution of tourism and sustainable development indicators between 2001 and 2016. The results suggest an absence of a positive effect induced by World Heritage Sites in rural areas. It seems that, by itself, the brand has not enough power to sustain tourist attractiveness if it is not endorsed by national, regional, and local initiatives. These findings lead a discussion about how certain sites managed to induce a sustained tourism growth while others failed to do so.

Suggested Citation

  • Corneliu Iațu & Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu & Oana Mihaela Stoleriu & Alina Munteanu, 2018. "The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:626-:d:133832
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Băbăț Andrei-Florin & Pavel Sorin, 2022. "Tourism Development in the Borderlands of Romania: A Case Study of the Danube Gorge–Iron Gates," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 41(4), pages 107-125, December.
    3. Bianca Mitrică & Paul-Răzvan Şerban & Irena Mocanu & Nicoleta Damian & Ines Grigorescu & Monica Dumitraşcu & Cristina Dumitrică, 2021. "Developing an Indicator-Based Framework to Measure Sustainable Tourism in Romania. A Territorial Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Muyan Tang & Hongzhang Xu, 2023. "Cultural Integration and Rural Tourism Development: A Scoping Literature Review," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu & Oana Mihaela Stoleriu & Alina Munteanu & Corneliu Iațu, 2018. "The Impact of Tourism on Sustainable Development of Rural Areas: Evidence from Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Sofia Karampela & Alexis Andreopoulos & Alex Koutsouris, 2021. "“Agro”, “Agri”, or “Rural”: The Different Viewpoints of Tourism Research Combined with Sustainability and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Bacsi Zsuzsanna & Tóth Éva, 2019. "Word Heritage Sites as soft tourism destinations – their impacts on international arrivals and tourism receipts," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 45(45), pages 25-44, September.
    8. Cătălina Ancuța & Ioan Sebastian Jucu, 2023. "Sustainable Rural Development through Local Cultural Heritage Capitalization—Analyzing the Cultural Tourism Potential in Rural Romanian Areas: A Case Study of Hărman Commune of Brașov Region in Romani," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-31, June.
    9. Geng, Yuqing & Zhang, Xiaorui & Gao, Juan & Yan, Yan & Chen, Lingyan, 2024. "Bibliometric analysis of sustainable tourism using CiteSpace," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).

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