THE CITY OF CLUJ-NAPOCA AND THE CLUJ COUNTY, IMPORTANT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN ROMANIA

The paper aimed to analyze the main trends in tourism in Cluj-Napoca and the Cluj County in the period 20072016 based on the empirical data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and the Statistical Division of the Cluj County. Tourism offer was briefly presented in terms of natural, historical and cultural patrimony, and also in terms of accommodation capacity (number of units and places) in its dynamics and correlation with the tourism demand, in terms of number of tourists arrivals and overnight stays. The data have been processed using index method, statistical parameters, Pearson correlation coefficients, linear regression models and the Excel facilities. In 2016, in Cluj-Napoca there were by 81.9 % more units of tourist accommodation and by 74 % more places, while at the county level, there were by 35 % more units and by 20 % more places. More exactly, in 2016, the offer of places was 6,216 in Cluj-Napoca and 8,450 places in the county. In the same period, the tourist arrivals increased by 42 % in Cluj-Napoca and by 44 % in the county. The number of overnight stays also increased by 34 % and, respectively 33 %. In 2016, Cluj-Napoca was visited by 371,505 tourists meaning 1.15 tourists/inhabitant, while the county registered 498,500 visitors, meaning 0.69 tourists/capita. The number of overnight stays accounted for 704,921 in Cluj-Napoca and 952,900 in the county. The regression linear models proved that the variation of the number of places has a low effect on the number of arrivals and overnight stays both in the city of residence and in the county. But a strong relationship is between the number of arrivals and overnight stays, (r=0.990). As a final conclusion, the higher and higher number of Romanian and foreign visitors in Cluj-Napoca and the county of Cluj is explained by the diversified offer in terms of natural, historical and cultural patrimony, accommodation units and places, hospitality, high quality services which reflect a good tourism management and marketing.