Programs and Projects in the Tourism Industry. The Romanian Public Policies

Romania is one of the countries with the largest tourist potential in Central and East Europe due to the large man-made and natural objectives' variety. There are incredible canyons and waterfalls, colorful hills, plateaus and fields, clear lakes and rivers, fascinating swamps and caves, snow-capped, magnificent mountains, the amazing Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, and even islands and volcanoes, let alone the rare and diverse fauna and flora. Although Romania has so much to offer, in 2017 there were only 5,3 million nights spent in the country by non-residents, out of 1497,8 million in EU resulting in a 41,6% of direct Travel & Tourism GDPTourism Development Master Plan for Romania 2007-2026 is to be of help in terms of GDP, income per capita, workplaces, investments, but also country brand - cultural heritage and natural resources. This Master Plan contains an overview of Romania in terms of accommodation capacity, seasonality, facilities, manpower, congruent industries, hospitality training, databases, marketing, but also telecommunications, waste disposal systems or environmental impact and a strategy to improve it in terms of transport development objectives, potential tourism development areas, tourism policies, travel insurance, tourist packages, standards, investments, expenditure and income. The Master Plan, if taken into consideration when applying for funding in the areas of Cohesion, Environment, Agriculture & Marine and Fisheries Policy, Research, Innovation and Competitivity Education or Culture and Education, would help Romania be more competitive in the tourism sector and show off all its wonders. But how many entities that have received funding for their tourism-related projects have read, agreed with and aligned their ideas with it? This article tries to find out if the current Romanian public policies avert tourism from flourishing or if it is a matter of poor program and project management, which are the next steps to be taken and the best practices to implement them in a way that respects the definition of sustainable tourism.