Certainties and Uncertainties in the Development of a Rural Tourism Destination. The Case of Oltenia Region, Romania

Oltenia Region benefits from a great tourist potential due to its natural and cultural resources. Along with the great landscapes in Gorj, Olt and Mehedinti Counties, there are also a great number of cultural sites such as: monasteries, convents and wooden houses that are still very well preserved and represent the history of the places. The traditions are permanently transferred from one generation to another. Thus the whole beauty of nature, history and tradition of the region needs to be promoted and to become more visible for a large touristic target; the rural tourism can trigger the economic development of Oltenia and can bring real benefits to its inhabitants. The paper aims at analyzing the tourism in South-West Oltenia region, mainly focusing on the rural tourism perspectives and opportunities. The rural tourism product is analyzed in an attempt to create and adopt proper tourism development strategies in the studied area. We used quantitative and qualitative methods such as processing and analysis of statistical data in tourism and analyses of European and national documents and literature. Some strengths of the rural tourism product of Oltenia are underlined and these elements can become competitive on the national tourism market.