The present study explores the opportunities and challenges of cross-border cooperation (CBC) in cultural and event tourism in the north-western counties of Romania. Cross-border cultural tourism involves visiting cultural heritage sites in border regions, promoting cultural diversity, and strengthening community ties and this research highlights the positive impact of this type of tourism on economic growth, cultural events’ s visibility and infrastructure investments. The best practices from European projects and initiatives abundantly demonstrate the importance of collaboration and information exchange between communities for the sustainable development of CBC in cultural tourism. Our research in the studied has identified various and solid historical and contemporary cultural relations between Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine, underling mutual influences and artistic collaborations, common interests, but also key obstacles, including cultural and linguistic differences, varying stakeholders and objectives, underdeveloped infrastructure, and geopolitical tensions and crises that can disrupt tourism flows, creating instability and uncertainty. Additionally, different regulatory frameworks between countries complicate the coordination and implementation of cross-border projects. Our study proposes solutions to overcome these challenges, such as promoting cooperation and partnerships, developing infrastructure, managing tourism sustainably, and last but not least a consistent access to European funds. Cross-border cultural tourism has significant potential for the economic, social, and cultural development of border regions, contributing to improved quality of life and the promotion of cultural values. By addressing the identified challenges and leveraging the opportunities, regions can foster sustainable and inclusive tourism that enhances cultural exchange and overall regional development.

In recent years, the city of Oradea, located in northwestern Romania, has stood out as a model of good practice in tourism development. The Oradea case study highlights the joint efforts of the public and private sectors, along with strategic planning and the implementation of innovative actions, which have significantly contributed to Oradea’s transformation into a point of attraction both nationally and internationally. Among the most notable initiatives are the restoration and valorization of the Art Nouveau heritage, the creation and promotion of the city’s tourism brand, and the organization of numerous cultural events (such as open-air concerts, Christmas and Easter fairs, the Transylvania International Film Festival – TIFF, the City Days festival, and the Gaudeamus Book Fair), all aimed at attracting tourists throughout the year. The projects carried out in the field of tourism focused on developing a welcoming urban environment that highlights the history, architectural wealth of the city while creating a perfect balance between urban hustle and outdoor relaxation. The Oradea and Region Tourism Promotion Association (APTOR) plays an essential role in increasing the visibility of the destination and revitalizing areas with significant tourism potential. The association has launched several innovative initiatives (the “Oradea with Love” campaign, free guided tours, the Oradea City Hunt project and the creation of a customer relationship management (CRM) system) with the aim of increasing awareness and accessibility to the city’s main tourist attractions. Also, the awards obtained by Oradea in the last two years, (Oradea – winner of the title “Art Nouveau Destination in Europe” and the title “Destination of the Year” 2025) shape the image of the city as a successful tourist destination.

Gastronomy, a fundamental component of culture, has become a significant criterion in choosing a tourist destination, playing a crucial role in the development of local economies. By exploring the gastronomy of a region or a country, one can travel through time and space, uncovering the cultural identity of the place. Thus, there is increasing talk of gastronomic destinations that offer tourists dishes with authentic and traditional flavors. Usually, each dish has its own story, describing both the traditional cooking techniques passed down through generations and the use of local ingredients that have defined a community’s cuisine over centuries. These gastronomic experiences are not just about tasting delicious food but also about understanding the history, traditions, and values of a community through its dishes. The connection between tourism and gastronomy is becoming increasingly evident, with tourists eager to taste traditional dishes that provide an authentic perspective on the culture of a tourist destination. Thus, gastronomic tourism involves exploring local cuisine, culinary traditions, markets, and local restaurants to discover and appreciate the diversity and authenticity of the foods and drinks of a region or country. Additionally, culinary tourism may include participating in cooking classes, tastings, culinary festivals, and other gastronomy-related activities, offering travelers the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of a community’s culture and identity through its food.

Globalization, the rise of the internet and the online market, as well as the expansion of mobility, have contributed to the exponential growth of tourism, and Europe can claim global supremacy when it comes to international tourism. The rate of growth in the number of tourists has accelerated over the last ten years thanks to the flexibility of travelling modalities, the openness to tourism of many countries and, last but not least, the emergence of collaborative tourism, which is a worthwhile alternative to classic tourism. The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which broke out in February 2020, has had a disastrous impact on the entire tourism industry. Due to this pandemic, domestic and international travel has been disrupted enough to have an immediate and fundamental impact on tourism and all related activities. The pandemic has changed the way people manifest themselves and paved the way for trends such as contactless technology, working from home, high standards of hygiene, domestic travel, and holidays with a small number of people. As a result, the trends already existing in the market before the outbreak of the pandemic, which were reshaping the idea of tourism, have been reinforced even more now. These include digitalization, durable and sustainable consumption, a growing demand for travel booked through platforms and, last but not least, the desire for personalized and original experiences. In this paper we aim to highlight the dimension of the Airbnb, one of the most successful sharing economy platforms, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting in what manner the advances of the digital world have interacted with the challenges, restrictions and opportunities of the recent pandemic, economic and political crises.

The Covid-19 pandemic has strongly affected the entire planet. Although artificial intelligence is more and more present in our daily activities, leaving its mark in most fields of activity (education, science, medicine), the coronavirus has managed, to some extent, to slow down or even block the natural evolution of things, forcing a change of the lifestyle and the reality in which we live. Forced isolation, imposed restrictions, activities conducted online, etc. had a negative effect especially on people who were coerced to adapt to a new situation and comply with the rules imposed in order to reduce/eliminate the devastating effect of the Covid-19 virus. The paper presents a brief summary of the evolution of influenza epidemics, especially of the coronavirus, as well as the names associated with human coronaviruses that have occurred in the last 20 years. Furthermore, the paper captures a series of controversies that arose in relation to the measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also the steps necessary to combat the impact of future pandemics as efficiently as possible. The research method used focuses on documentation using, in particular, specialized literature (articles, case studies, books, etc.) from various fields but also information provided by the World Health Organization.

The collaborative (or sharing) economy continues to shape the tourism industry, challenging both the traditional areas of supply, but especially the trust and digital skills of users, the acceptance of platforms and new inter-personal and community relationships. In the present paper a crosssectional quantitative research was conducted with non-random convenience sampling in order to determine the impact of the collaborative Airbnb platform among Romanian tourists, how wellknown it is and what elements motivate tourists to choose this platform. We also want to analyse the extent to which the benefits and innovations brought by this new phenomenon are in line with the needs and expectations of tourists and whether they are interested in this phenomenon, the extent to which tourists have chosen the Airbnb platform to stay in Romania or abroad.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic and unprecedented impact on the tourism sector, drastically reducing tourism flows and, therefore, the revenues of businesses in this sector. International, regional and local travel restrictions immediately affected national economies, including tourism systems, international travel, domestic tourism, air transport, public transport, accommodation, restaurants, festivals, sports events etc. Beyond the immediate shock, the tourism sector faces other, longer-term challenges, related to its green and digital transformation, its competitiveness, its sustainability and its resilience (according to ECA, Special Report 27 p.4) The paper presents an analysis of tourism in Romania during the 2019-2021 period, based on the analysis of the main indicators and the presentation of the solutions proposed by the European Union to recover the tourism sector. The multiannual financial framework for the 2021-2027 period comprises a number of 14 programs designed to finance actions in the tourism sector and the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) provides Member States with the opportunity to finance investments and reforms, including in the tourism sector. Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan approved by the Commission in September 2021 focuses, in particular, on digitizing services, increasing responsiveness and ensuring institutional resilience at national level. Furthermore, through the S.O.S. Romanian Tourism, the Alliance for Tourism (APT) presents us with two important objectives: helping tourism out of the critical state in which it currently is and resetting the entire hospitality industry, as well as the measures taken to achieve the proposed objectives.

The growth of technological revolutions and the subsequent acceptance of smart devices has increased the influence of sustainable marketing activities in the tourism industry. Due to the explosion of mobile technologies (e.g., smartphones, tablets) and social media adoption, consumers have been able to use these technologies at any time for destination marketing. However, understanding consumers' sustainable marketing experiences from a destination perspective is a complex issue. At the moment, very few studies have focused on the effectiveness of smartphone-based social media in destination marketing. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to explore how consumers interpret and utilize smartphone-based social media for sustainable destination marketing. This study proposes an integrated framework that consists of the mobile technology acceptance model (MTAM) and the social media-based interaction, trendiness, and electronic-word-of-mouth (e-WoM). A questionnaire survey was used to collect data (n = 365), and valid data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The findings revealed that interaction, trendiness, and e-WoM indirectly affected satisfaction through mobile usefulness and mobile ease of use. At the same time, mobile usefulness and mobile ease of use directly affected satisfaction, which then significantly influenced the intention to utilize those factors towards sustainable destination marketing. This study highlights the technological affordances and the satisfaction of smartphone-based social media in sustainable marketing. Furthermore, the results can be used in the resource allocation process to ensure the success of the vision and mission of sustainable destination marketing efforts.

The tourism industry has been one of the industries most affected by the pandemic. The borders were closed one by one, travel was limited or even banned, and people were asked to stay in their homes. For tourism, 2020 has been a continuous decline. In 2020, tourism was among the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the travel restrictions as well as other precautionary measures taken in response. In 2020, the number of nights spent at European Union (EU) tourist accommodation establishments totalled 1.4 billion, down by 52% compared with 2019. Market research confirms that 2020 has become the year of domestic tourism. 1 March 2021 marks a year since the beginning of the most difficult period in the tourism industry. People’s desire to travel has not disappeared, but their behaviour regarding the scheduling of the next vacation has changed. In 2021, tourists tend to choose more isolated destinations, with more green space and away from mass tourism. And while storm clouds appear to be dissipating in 2021 with the start of the vaccination campaign, there are still many questions about what this year’s trip will look like. As the pandemic shows no signs of stopping soon and the vaccination campaign is progressing slowly due to the limited number of vaccines and logistical organization problems, tourism cannot stop and wait for better times. And, moreover, the future of this industry seems at this moment an equation with unknown Ns. The challenges will be especially for those who receive tourists, because they must give them the confidence to start traveling again as in the past. The aim of European tourism policy is to maintain Europe’s position as a top tourist destination, while maximizing the industry’s contribution to growth and employment and promoting cooperation between EU countries. Business Magazine identified five key questions for tourism entrepreneurs to determine how and where tourists will spend their holidays in 2021.

The paper is part of a larger research aims to increase the impact of entrepreneurship education on students' intentions to become an entrepreneur.Based on the literature in the field of youth entrepreneurship and the theory of planned behaviour, the research considers attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control towards entrepreneurship as students' antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions and exposure to entrepreneurial models, work experience and intuition of trigger events as entrepreneurial experiences.In this context, the paper findings about entrepreneurial intentions of a group of 200 undergraduate students in the first year of study from the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, Romania, before access to formal entrepreneurship education or/and other entrepreneurial education opportunities.The research tests according with theory of planned behavior if there is a positive correlation between students' antecedents, respectivelly experiences and entrepreneurial intentions.Additionally, the research tests whether there is any link between gender, the residential environment (urban, rural), the family origin and the entrepreneurial intentions of the students.The research results allow university to design entrepreneurial educational offer (curricula, programs, extra-curricular activities, practicebased learning etc.) in order to compensate initially perceived lack of support and expose students to experiences that stimulate their entrepreneurial intentions.Also, the research findings provide managerial implications and policy recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education and programs.Future research steps seek hypothesis retesting for Economics students after access to entrepreneurship education and address other groups of students from non-economic fields of study where, traditionally, the offer of entrepreneurial education is poor or non-existent.

This paper presents a synthesis of the changes that have taken place at the level of the Romanian food industry since the revolution in 1989 until present. The method used in the elaboration of the paper focuses on extensive documentation based on the viewing of several Romanian documentary films, media articles and statistical data collected by different official websites (Eurostat, NBRi, NISii, MARDiii) concerned with the subject addressed. The majority of the films under analysis present concrete examples of the issues that the Romanian food industry is faced with and the reasons that have led to the transformation of Romania from a producer into a merchant market for foods produced abroad. In the final part of the paper, I have highlighted two projects – initiated by Lidl and Kaufland – which although may, at a first glance, seem as timid initiatives, nevertheless constitute a first step towards the revival of domestic food products.

This paper discusses a topical problem related to the issue of food integrity at the level of EU Member States. The method used to draw up the paper is the documentation based on the official websites of the EU Institutions (the European Commission, the European Parliament) and those at national level (MARD) presenting the approaches taken by them to remedy the situation regarding the double standard of food products marketed in different EU Member States. Furthermore, the articles used for the paper discuss concrete examples that show the difference in quality between the products marketed in Central and Eastern European countries as compared to those in the West. Thus, the paper addresses issues related to: the effects of the marketing of fraudulent products; concrete examples of non-authentic products encountered at national and international level, as well as the steps taken to combat food fraud. The final part of the paper presents some recommendations which could result in a reduced production/marketing of food products that do not comply with the „original recipes”.

This paper addresses the issue of food waste, which is currently a global problem with repercussions on all the links in the food supply chain. The method used in drafting the paper focuses on extensive documentation based on the official websites of the European Union and International Organizations (FAO, OECD, etc.) concerned with finding solutions that would lead to the reduction of the amount of wasted food. Thus, the paper discusses issues related to: the main situations that generate waste and food losses along the food chain, costs associated with food waste and the projects initiated by the EU to reduce food waste. The final part of the paper presents the programs by which Romania tries to process and capitalize on the current food surplus in order to reduce food waste.

This paper presents the opposition between industrial and organic food. The method used focuses on an extensive documentation based on statistical data, documentary films, books and articles that provide us various information about the devastating effect of chemicals used by the food industry. Most of the documents used are based on case studies and concrete examples that condemn the current food industry, which “forces” the population of the globe to consume artificial food, (lacking vitamins and minerals), which, according to specialists, “keeps us alive but hurries the end”. In order to change this cruel reality, a growing number of activists (physicians, economists, biologists, chemists, etc.) fight to stop the food chaos created by the current food industry, seeking and offering viable solutions for protecting the environment and the public health.

The present paper aims to investigate the cross-border cooperation impact on regional tourism based on the Bihor County case study. The first part of the paper analyses the literature regarding cross-border cooperation impact on regional tourism. In the second part, the paper provides a synthetic analysis of the Bihor County tourism in the context of North-West Region of Romania. Based on national territorial statistics, regional and local development strategies for 2014-2020, Bihor County Department of Statistics, Bihor Trade Office and Bihor Council data, other available dataset for tourism sector, the analysis shows that Bihor County has the highest tourism potential at regional level and the most diversified, covering large areas of the county. Also, Bihor County tourism is above the regional average at almost all tourism indicators. The third part of the paper documents about cross-border cooperation impact on Bihor county tourism. The location of Bihor County on the border with Hungary and the opportunity to benefit of funding from EU through Cross-border Cooperation Programmes are competitive advantages for Bihor County at regional level. Based on Oradea Regional Office for Borders Cooperation (BRECO) data, the paper presents the positive effects of cross-border cooperation on Bihor County tourism due to the 10 tourism projects implemented under the PHARE CBC Programme 2004-2006 and HU-RO CBC Programme 2007-2013 in Bihor-Hajdu-Bihar Euroregion and their impact on regional tourism.

Starting from Porter’s well-known approach to a nation’s competitiveness and decomposing prosperity, this paper attempts to highlights connections between competitiveness, prosperity, human development and labor productivity and labor utilization in the case of Romania. The comparative analysis of Romania’s competitiveness, prosperity and human development profiles was conducted based on The Global Competitiveness Report, Legatum Prosperity Index and Human Development Report. The paper concludes that Romania is currently facing four major categories of challenges directly related with labor utilization: population ageing, the urban-rural dualism, unemployment paradoxes and labor migration which can affect the positive trends and future progress in the areas examined.

This paper presents the trend of tourist indicators in Bihor County, during the period 2007-2013, in terms of: tourist accommodation establishments; existing tourist accommodation capacity (number of availabilities); tourist accommodation capacity in service (thousands of availabilities - days); number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation establishments; number of tourists arrivals in tourist accommodation establishments; index of net use of accommodation capacity in service and the average length of stay. Based on information provided by the National Statistics Institute we have defined six tourist areas (Oradea, hydro spa area, mountain area, urban area, rural area and border area) in order to observe, which was the most developed area in terms of tourism, during 2007-2013. To this end, the average percentage of the analysed indicators was calculated, the calculation method being as follows: we divided the total of the indicator analysed in an area by the total of areas analysed (for each year separately), and then we added the indices obtained for each of the seven years and divided them by their number.

This paper presents a case study on the endeavours taken by public institutions in Bihor County in order to revitalize tourism in Oradea. According to the official website of Oradea Municipality, there are several ongoing projects in 2015, most of them aimed at raising Oradea’s tourism at European standards. Projects which are currently in progress are focused, in particular, on developing the cultural and historic heritage (by conserving the history of places, buildings, customs and other works by men) and valorising the geothermal resources of which it benefits. Most projects are carried out through the Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013, Priority Axes 1 ”Support to sustainable development of cities – urban growth poles” and 5 – ”Sustainable development and promotion of tourism”. Actually, the completion of these projects aims to diversify and improve tourism services in Oradea, on the one hand, by creating modern leisure services (of the Aqua park, Spa, Wellness type), and on the other hand, by rehabilitating and modernising the cultural and historical centre of Oradea (Piața Unirii [Union Square] and Vasile Alecsandri Street). Moreover, Oradea City App was created, available in Romanian and English, in order to provide the user with complex information both on tourist attractions, accommodation and catering establishments that are available in Oradea and Băile Felix, as well as on the possibilities for leisure (theatre, movies, concerts, fairs, exhibitions, sports facilities, etc.). This year also, on May 10, 2015, it was decided that a referendum will be held in order to request the territorial merger between Oradea and Sînmartin which would lead to ranking Oradea in the league of large cities. According to mayors Ilie Bolojan (Oradea) and Lucian Popuș (Sînmartin) “the purpose of this endeavour is the joint development of the two localities, by numeric increase of the population, in order to ensure economic development, tourism revival by highlighting the architecture of the city and by developing the hydro-thermal resorts of Băile Felix and 1 Mai, located within the area of Sînmartin commune, respectively by attracting European funds”. Upon successful outcome of the Municipality referendum, Oradea could become an attractive tourist destination, both at national and international level.

The paper presents a theoretical approach of the relation between tourism and local development. The research method used is based on documenting and summarizing aspects related to the importance of tourism on local development. According to data provided by the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2014), compared to 2010, a 91% increase of the number of international tourist arrivals is forecasted in 2030, from 948 million arrivals (2010) to 1,810 million arrivals (2030). Therefore, it is no surprise that tourism is viewed as a development strategy in many national economies. Tourism literature captures a series of arguments that emphasize the contribution of tourism to local development by: creating new jobs, revitalizing cultural traditions, improving infrastructure, environmental protection, etc. For Romania, as well, it may be noted that tourism strategies included in the 2013-2016 Government Programme are oriented towards local tourism by: decentralizing the authorization and approval activity, developing an integrated tourism by capitalizing all the local resources (cultural, agricultural, handicraft, etc.), connecting Romanian tourism to international trends, etc. In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the 2013-2016 Government Program provides the clarification on the issue of decentralization, since the current government believes that a balanced development of Romania can only be achieved through transfer of authority to the local, county and regional levels.