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790 QTaCh and Practice
\J\J Journal Bulletin of Stavropol Heglon
UDK 338.48
Ungureanu A.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BALNEARY TOURISM. CASE STUDY VALCEA COUNTY
Abstract: Romanian balneary tourism is considered a real chance to restore economic growth. In the context of a society increasingly globalized, it requires a complex approach, as balneary tourism must be analyzed as a very important segment of the national economy. It must be emphasized that balneary tourism is not only for those with medical problems, but also those who wish to regain optimal vitality and physical, mental, and spiritual
condition. The object of researches include mainly balneary tourism in Valcea, because this is the only form of tourism in our country that relies on a permanent potentially, of a high complexity that seems virtually inexhaustible.
Key words: tourism, touristic accomodation, arrivals and overnights stays.
Ungureanu A. -
Ph.D., Lecturer, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Faculty of Economic Sciences, B-dul Bucuresti no. 39, 100680 Ploiesi, Prahova, Romania. Tel.: +40 723 561 211 E-mail: ungureanu_adrian2001@yahoo.com
Introduction
In the current limits, Valcea county has an area of 5,765 kmp, representing 2.4 % of the country, which is inhabited by over 405,543 inhabitants. From the administrative point of view, Valcea county is composed of 2 cities, 9 towns and 78 villages.
County infrastructure includes 2,167 km of public roads, of which 490 km are in the category of national roads and 1677 km are county roads. The length of railway lines in operation is 164 km (Valcea county is traversed by the railway bridge Olt - Dragasani -Ramnicu Valcea - Sibiu; the railway closely follows the Olt Valley gorge crossing it, thus providing a very attractive route). Railway transport is one of the accesses to spas in the county.
In the county there are no airports. Air transport for tourism purposes to Valcea county is facilitated by Sibiu International Airport, located 89 km away from Ramnicu Valcea and 65 km from Voineasa.
In terms of demographic, the total population of the county is 405,543 inhabitants, of which 40.6 % live in urban areas and 59.4 % live in rural areas. The active population in the county of Valcea is 47.2 % of the total population. Regarding the sector of activity it can be noticed agriculture and forestry (40.73 %), industry (32.85 %) and the tertiary sector (26.32 %).
Looking at the statistics of Valcea county it can be seen that it has a density of 75 inhabitants / km2. A high percentage of urban population is given primarily from Ramnicu Valcea city, which is the country seat and has a population of 118 890 inhabitants, and the cities Dragasani (21,047 inhabitants), Baile Govora (2,871 inhabitants), Baile Olanesti (4,575 inhabitants) , Brezoi (7,235 inhabitants), Calimane§ti-Caciulata (8,873 inhabitants), Horezu (7,043 inhabitants), Ocnele (3,520 inhabitants).
For Valcea, tourism should be a priority and at the same time a real economic potential. Through the development of tourism services activity has grown and the share of staff employed in services is increasing. Four places in the county Valcea: Baile Govora, Calimanesti-Caciulata, Olanesti and Voineasa, certified as tourist resorts of national interest and Horezu - commune certified as a resort of local interest, situates the county (by number of resorts) as second nationally along with Prahova County.
Natural mineral resources available in Valcea resorts and natural factors helps with the treat of several ilnesses: respiratory, rheumatism, joint and traumatic peripheral and central neurological and digestive, metabolic and nutritional disorders, renal and urinary disorders, etc. Relationship between tourism and economic development can be seen in a double sense. On the one hand economic development requires a development of industry in the county, and on the other hand, the tourist activity is considered to have a particular impact on the economic branches.
The analysis of the technical, material and supply services
To highlight the current situation in which there is capacity for accommodation in resorts of Valcea county, in the following I tried to capture its evolution over the period 2004-2014.
In the Vrnjci Spaanalyzed period the tourist reception experienced an upward trend from 88 in 2004 to 125 in 2014, as can be seen in Table 1. This increase in accommodation establishments registered in the last 11 years was due on the one hand the emergence of new types of reception and on the other hand increasing the number of establishments of higher category classified.
At the end of 2014, in Valcea county, in tourism were running 233 tourist accommodation establishments (representing 3.8 % of those under statistical observation).
Looking at the statistics of Valcea county we can see that balneary tourism is well developed. Of the total of 233 accommodation units, the most establishments, 125, are located in the four resorts had under observation (Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Câlimâneçti and Voineasa).
Following this analysis, we can state that in the period 2004-2014, in the county of Valcea in the accommodation establishments, the share is owned by resorts. If in 2004 the balneary share in the county was 71 %, in 2014 this value experienced a significant decrease reaching a minimun value for the period under review of 53.6 %.
Regarding hotels, they are, in number, on the second position, preceded by tourist boarding houses and agrotourism. Within Valcea County resorts
Table 1 - Accommodation units in Valcea County/Resorts - 2014
County/Resort County Ba ile Govora B a ile Ola nes ti C a lima nes ti Voineasa
Hotels 42 4 14 9 2
Motels 12 - - 4 -
Hostels 5 - 2 - 1
Touristic villas 30 3 12 9 5
Touristic chalets 6 1 - 1 1
Bungalows 2 - - 2 -
Sate de vacanta 2 - - - -
Campings and houselet type units 7 1 - - -
Tourist halting places 5 - 1 2 1
School and pre-school camps 4 - - 2 -
Touristic boarding houses 61 3 12 15 -
Agro-touristic boarding houses 57 - - - 18
Totals 233 12 41 44 28
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR101C
Figure 1 - Evolution of accommodation structures in Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti,
Voineasa resorts (2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR101C
100.0 90.0 SO.O 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 Î0.0 20.0 10.0 0.0
4—
2004 2005 2006 200" 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
^^ Share % S2.S S1.3 81.« 79.5 79.5 79.5 77.5 S0.5 77.8 "0.7 «9.0
Figure 2 - Relative development hotels resorts in all hotels Valcea County (2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?paqe=tempo3&lanq=ro&ind=TUR101C
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stands out with its 29 hotel-type accommodation units (69 % of all existing hotels in the county).
The high percentage of hotels can be explained by the fact that these units have a complex profile, a higher level of comfort and provide a wider range of services of quality.
Analyzing the existing accommodation capacity at county we can notice that balneary tourism, represent the strong point for this county in terms of this indicator.
The situation is entirely different if we analyze the existing accommodation capacity. Thus, the period
2004-2014 was marked by an alternation of increases and decreases in accommodation capacity from 8,004 in 2004 to 9,382 in 2012 (the highest value recorded in the period under review), in order to decrease later at 7,986 places in 2014 (according to the Graph 4.).
In conclusion, the supply of accommodation available in Valcea County have diversified, more additional investment in the field must be made based on a strategy developed at regional and county level. The tourist offer should be designed to meet the tourist demand as well the market.
Table 2 - Accommodation capacity in Valcea County - 2014 (number of places)
County/Resort County Baile Govora Baile Olanesti Calimanesti Voineasa Totals resorts Share %
Hotels 6437 855 2100 2536 162 5653 87.8
Motels 397 - - 140 - 140 35.3
Hostels 112 - 65 - 24 89 79.5
Touristic villas 580 44 234 216 70 564 97.2
Touristic chalets 136 8 - 10 8 26 19.1
Bungalows 30 - - 30 - 30 100.0
Sate de vacanta 87 - - - - 0 0.0
Campings and houselet type units 501 48 - - - 48 9.6
Tourist halting places 334 - 70 146 72 288 86.2
School and pre-school camps 467 - - 247 - 247 52.9
Touristic boarding houses 1194 32 288 294 - 614 51.4
Agro-touristic boarding houses 866 - - - 287 287 33.1
Totals 11141 987 2757 3619 623 7986 71.7
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR102C
Source: auth
Figure 3 - Share of accommodation capacity in use - 2014 (number of places)
or's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR
1000« 9000
sooo "000 6000 5000 4000 ÎOOO 2000 1000 0
numb M ol 1>l.i< c
2004
200?
2 00«
2007
200S
200» 2010
S815 S3~4
2011
2012
20«
2014
02C
Figure 4 - The evolution of touristic accommodation capacity in use, in Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti,
Calimanesti, Voineasa resorts (2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR102C
Analysis of tourist traffic in balneal resorts in Valcea County
The number of arrivals of tourists recorded in balneal resorts (Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa), in the tourist reception in 2014 was 148,791, with 9,733 higher than in 2004.
In terms of share of tourist arrivals in total arrivals in balneal resorts, there is evidence of obvious oscillations. If in 2004 we recorded a share of 64 %, and in 2006 the maximum value of 73.4 %, 8 years later it drops with 8.5 percentage points, reaching 64.9 %.
By types of tourist accommodation establishments, most arrivals were registered in hotels, at the level of 2014 (118,324 arrivals), representing 79.5 % of total tourist arrivals in balneal resorts (Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa), supplemented by tourist villas with only 7.91 % of the total.
Assessment figures provided by the National Institute of Economic Statistics, indicates very clearly that the county of Valcea tourists preferred hotels of 2 and 3 stars, with approximately 64.7 %
Trend analysis shows that results from an unfavorable situation for balneal resorts (Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa). The fact that the number of overnight stays decreased
steadily throughout the period analyzed is only a negative factor for tourism development. To assist tourism in Valcea county is necessary to modernize the material and technical basis that exists to build new accommodation structures of a superior comfort, increase quality of service and last but not least, to make major investments in transport infrastructure.
Number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation was in 2014 of 870.524 overnight stays, of which 816 593 nights spent by tourists staying in hotels. Regarding tourism accommodation balneal resorts observed number of tourists staying overnight stays experienced during 2004-2014, a significant decrease from 1,200,246 in 2004 to only 870 524 overnight stays in 2014, resulting in a -329.722 negative growth of overnight stays.
Spa tourism has been and it still is affected by the economic crisis. The number of nights spent in hotels in the balneal resorts of Valcea county has the same general trend, reducing balneary tourism is dependent on tourists coming by the National House of Pensions and Other Social Insurance Rights, travel agencies covering a very small segment, only 1015 % on average.
Being a very expensive investment and the expected return on investment very long, the new own-
18000« lfiOOOO
noooo 12000« 10000« 80000 60000 40000 20000
2004 200? 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
• Kmribei of tourist arrivals 139058 131286 153384 161965 164805 143294 12"028 166608 138776 137914 148791
Figure 5 - Evolution of arrivals in the resorts Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti,
Voineasa (2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR104E
Figure 6 - Evolution of overnight stays in resorts Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa
(2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR105E
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\J T Journal Bulletin of Stavropol Region
ers did not have the necessary funds to fully modernize hotel assets.
Significant for balneary tourism is the long duration of stay, which usually exceeds stay tourists accommodated in other tourist areas. According to the analysis, for balneary tourism in Valcea county yielded values above the national average. The average stay in the balneal resorts were mixed, recording in 2005 for the maximum period, 8.83 days. Since 2005, the length of stay has declined steadily, recording the minimum in 2014 of only 5.85 days. In the pursuit of tourist traffic in the following spas participate travel agents organizers: travel agencies, trade unions, Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection and other professional associations.
Average length of stay was reduced from 8.83 days in 2005 to 5.85 days in 2014 because of the tendency sharing holidays and itinerant tourism industry.
The fact that tourist arrivals and overnight stays in accommodation decreased their is a negative
factor in tourism development perspective. For this trend to reverse it is necessary to create vacation packages more attractive, to increase the quality of services provided to modernize infrastructure (access roads in the area-perhaps even build section of highway Pitesti-Sibiu) and technical basis - material tourism.
Conclusion
Of all segments of tourism in Romania, tourism is the only form of tourism that is based on a potentially permanent, high complexity, virtually inexhaustible and independent of weather conditions.
The balneal resorts in Valcea county is required in addition to modernization of the existing accommodation, building new capacity. In this regard, the foreign capital contribution deserves to enjoy all the attention.
Between chapters of tourist material base that can find a source of funding foreign capital enroll some types of catering establishments, as the
Table 3 - Length of stay in the resorts Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa -
2004-2014 (tourist days)
Year Arrivals Overnight stays Lenght of stay
2004 139.058 1.200.246 8.63
2005 131.286 1.159.879 8.83
2006 153.384 1.154.847 7.53
2007 161.965 1.125.436 6.95
2008 164.805 1.121.028 6.80
2009 143.294 954.451 6.66
2010 127.028 835.633 6.58
2011 166.608 928.016 5.57
2012 138.776 932.451 6.72
2013 137.914 916.989 6.65
2014 148.791 870.524 5.85
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR104E https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR105E
10 9 5 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
♦--
2004 2005 2006 200" 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
♦ Lfiialil of stay S.63 8.83 7.53 6.95 6.8 6.66 6.58 5.57 6.72 6.65 5.85
Figure 7 - Evolution of lenght of stays in resorts Baile Govora, Baile Olanesti, Calimanesti, Voineasa
(2004-2014)
Source: author's own calculations based on: https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR104B https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/index.jsp?page=tempo3&lang=ro&ind=TUR105E
treatment of a number of balneal resorts and leisure-entertainment means. The participation of foreign companies at the process of adapting catering to the requirements of today's tourism is especially needed especialy due to profiled cuisine restaurants from geographical areas and nations (French cuisine restaurants products, English, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, etc.) some types of facilities characteristic of other countries (pizzerias, Oriental bars, Germanic brewery beer etc.). Restaurants such as those mentioned can be created mainly by leasing some of the current existing premises in all balneal resorts, some companies abroad.
In our view, equally important for the development of spa tourism in Valcea, is upgrading equipment and medical balneal resorts. It involves money and the purchase of all that is new in the field. Because these investments involve large amount of
funds, in order to act quickly requires wither the collaboration with foreign firms or stronger involvement of state authorities, which are impassive and might damage this tourist sector.
In most spas analyzed, treatment cabinets are built in hotels and companies that will exploit these hotels must solve the problem of equipping with modern medical equipment.
From our point of view, foreign capital can contribute to enhancement of the entire local tourism potential by carrying out actions to promote the "product" health and wellness market in Valcea county, primarily foreign markets. The existing ways for these lines are not a few; some come from the arising prestige of foreign company travel, partner among customers from different countries other from the interest in that company itself to support, through advertising, the Romanian touristic "product" on a different markets.
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