THE ROLE OF RURAL TOURISM IN THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REVITALISATION OF LAPUS LAND (MARAMURES COUNTY, ROMANIA)

This study highlights the main results of a larger study on rural tourism in Lapu. Land (partly a mining area) and aims to provide an assessment of the present stage of rural tourism development in this region. The analysis is focused on the regional and local level by using the survey method. The purpose is to reveal social and spatial relations and to present a realistic image of the situation of rural tourism in Lapu. Land. It presents the main results of a field investigation using the questionnaire technique applied directly, by means of operators, upon a sample made of 25 households in 11 settlements in 2012. Finally, the main conclusions and the main perspectives for rural tourism development have been drawn. Taking into account the level of the coordinates defining nowadays the size and quality of the general infrastructure, of the involved accommodation units, the services provided, as well as the volume and intensity of tourist flows, the rural tourism activity cannot generate on the short term a spectacular economic revival of Lapus Land, except for a relatively low number of households.