ASSESSMENT OF TOURISM SUPPLY, DEMAND AND MARKET TRENDS IN CRAIOVA CITY, ROMANIA

Abstract

Tourism is a phenomenon that can contribute to the economic success of a city or even to its social dynamism, so that in recent years there is an increasing trend and active promotion of the tourism industry in many cities in Europe, Romania also trying to align with the European trends. Urban tourism as a category of tourism resources and activities within a city is a complex and multifunctional form of tourism. Its development is directly influenced by the permissiveness of local, regional and national policy but lately also by the new marketing and tourism promotion strategies and actions and by the proper receptivity of these strategies. This study aims at analysing quantitatively and qualitatively the urban tourism phenomenon (tourism supply and demand) in Craiova city, the county seat of Dolj and an urban growth pole of the Oltenia development region, in order to highlight the tourism market trends and to obtain a tourism diagnosis. The prognosis of the tourism activity done by using the TALC model can help the authorities, who started to focus on this sector, which was less capitalized in the city due to the functional economic profile focused initially on industry and commerce.