Rural Tourism: A Factor of Sustainable Development for the Traditional Rural Area of Bucovina, Romania

Abstract

This paper explores an important issue, namely rural tourism, by analyzing the supply and demand of tourism in three rural regions (Gura Humorului, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, and Dorna) in Bucovina, Suceava County, as an alternative economic development for rural areas. The statistical data on tourist traffic in the three regions of Suceava County were taken from the website of the National Institute of Statistics of Romania and analyzed over a period of 10 years (2014–2023). The analysis of the total number of tourist accommodation facilities recorded increases of over 200% in all three regions analyzed. Dynamic analysis of the accommodation capacity in operation, the number of tourists and overnight stays, and the average length of stay was carried out by calculating the absolute and relative indicators with fixed and chained base and average indicators. Despite the increase in the number of tourists and overnight stays, the average length of stay remains relatively low. The calculation of the net utilization rate of the accommodation capacity in operation shows an efficient use of the accommodation facilities in the three regions analyzed. The importance of the research and the originality of this research are closely related to understanding the dynamics of tourism in the rural regions analyzed for the formation of future strategies for sustainable rural development in Bucovina.