Perception of Rural Tourism From the Perspective of Tourists. Case study Mountain area of Suceava County

Rural tourism is an activity that protects the environment in comparison with the consumer industries, becoming an ally in the conservation of the environment. All of the rural areas of the country, the most consistent through potential is the mountain area, which is why we chose as a case study, the mountain region of Suceava county. Starting from the hypothesis that the tourist offer of the mountain area is attractive, the research aims at the degree of tourist satisfaction with the tourist offer of the rural area of ​​Suceava county.  

The methodology is based on the conducted survey on the basis of the questionnaire by the method of face-to-face interview, between September 1 and November 30, 2019.The questionnaire was anonymous in order to ensure the highest degree of sincerity of the answers and was applied to a number of 630 tourists from the mountain region of Suceava county. 

The present study shows that most tourists who choose Suceava county as their destination, reside in neighboring counties, especially in the region of Moldova. An element of attractiveness is the lower prices compared to other tourist areas of the country. The economic facility of granting holiday vouchers and cards from the public domain in Romania, makes the tourist demand in non-polluting spaces increasing.   On the other hand, the statistical data confirm that the number of the agrotourism pensions in Suceava county are increasing from year to year; Suceava  is ranking in 2019 on the second place after Brasov county.The hypothesis confirms that rural tourism is a growing phenomenon, but the length of stay of tourists in the rural area is on average 1-3 days.

In conclusion, the following analysis of the results it is found that tourists are attracted by the beauty of the landscape of the existing cultural objectives, the local gastronomy, the hospitality of the hosts, all at a lower prices compared to areas of the great tourist interest in the country.

Keywords:  Rural Tourism, Mountain area, tourists, Suceava County