2.0 Background
This chapter begins with a brief history of Romania and Romania’s tourism before introducing the project collaborators, the Sibiu County Tourism Association and Mioritics Association. The chapter then describes the current condition of the Sibiu County trails and potential improvements. Next, the background discusses systems other countries use to determine the needs of trail users, count visitors, and obtain feedback. Finally, this chapter investigates possible solutions and existing reporting forms designed to meet tourist expectations. Knowing these topics is essential to understanding the social implications of this project, how Sibiu can apply methods used around the world, how to encourage better tourism practices, and how to improve the experience of trail users in Sibiu.
2.1 Geographical and Historical Tourism Context
2.1.1 Geographical Region
Romania is a southeastern European country bordered by Ukraine, Moldova, the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary. The landscape in Romania is roughly one-third mountains, one-third forests, and one-third hills and plains, with great diversity in topography, geology, climate, hydrology, flora, and fauna (Mihai Dragomir, Personal Communication, February 9, 2021). Romania’s geographical structure centers around the Transylvania Basin and the Carpathian Mountains, whose subranges form a series of crescents that divide Romania into ten regions. Bucharest, the nation’s capital and main economic and cultural center is in the Muntenia historic region (shown in Figure 2.1 in mint green) (Cucu et al., 2021).
Figure 2.1 Romania regions counties map
(JewishGen, 2016)
Sibiu County, located in the historical region of Transylvania (shown in peach in Figure 2.1) of Romania, is 2,097 square miles (5,432 square kilometers) in area, with an estimated population of 401,168 (as of 2020-01-01). The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians), including the Sebeş, Lotru, and Făgăraş ranges, run through the southern portion of Sibiu. Sibiu County is more rural than other areas in Romania, with settlements found amongst intermontane valleys (Britannica, 2019). The capital of Sibiu County, aptly named Sibiu, lies along the Cibin River on the northern side of Turnu Roșu (“Red Tower”) Pass, which links Transylvania to southern Romania across the Southern Carpathians. The city of Sibiu is a “cultural and industrial center” because of its large production of machine tools, textile machinery, foodstuff, leatherware, textiles, and clothing. Possessing an international airport, along with roads and railways connecting Sibiu to Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, and Bucharest, Sibiu is easily accessible from outside regions (Britannica, 2018).
2.1.2 Decline of Tourism in the Communist Era
Occupied by Soviet troops in 1944, Romania joined the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and fell under communist control in 1948. Before the Second World War, Romania experienced a slow, steady growth in tourism as a result of establishing a National Tourism Office in 1936. However, this progress stopped due to the war and communist influence. By 1961, Romania had only 134,000 tourists annually. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Romania invested in more tourism infrastructure, focusing on its border with the Black Sea. As an inexpensive alternative to Greece or the Spanish coasts, Romania attracted 2.9 million foreign tourists in 1972. Most of these tourists came from neighboring countries, but 600,000 came from Western Europe (Light, 1999). The government also encouraged domestic tourism, and most people visited areas with spa and mountain resorts along with the Black Sea.
However, tourism began to decline again as Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu consolidated power in the mid 1970’s. In 1974, he passed a law requiring all tourists to spend a minimum amount of currency each day during their visit. Additionally, Ceaușescu forbade local Romanians to accommodate tourists in their homes and demanded them to report all interaction with foreigners to the Securitate (the internal security services). This restricted tourism to the Black Sea and put tourists under surveillance. Ceaușescu’s plan to reduce Romania’s debt involved decreasing domestic consumption and investment, rationing energy supplies, and exporting nearly all agricultural produce. As a result, the Romanian standard of living significantly declined and citizens had to ration food, electricity, and fuel (Light, 1999). In the 1980’s, tourism declined rapidly, making Romania an unattractive, repellent place for tourists (Light, 2000).
2.1.3 Tourism Stereotypes
After the demise of Ceaușescu’s reign in 1989, Romania transitioned to democracy in 1990 which significantly increased the number of arrivals (Cucu et al., 2021). 3.1 million tourists visited Romania for holiday in 1990—a 67% increase from the previous year—with the majority from neighboring countries and about half a million from Western Europe. In 1992, the number of tourists arriving for holiday peaked at just over 3.5 million, as seen in Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2 Foreign arrivals by purpose of visit from 1990 to 1997
(Light & Dumbrăveanu, 1999).
With Ceaușescu’s downfall broadcast on national television, Romania wanted people to experience the revolution themselves. During the transition period, the Romanian government provided guided tours associated with sites highlighting the downfall of communism to help rebuild the economy (Light, 2000). Even after decades of post-communism, Romania still draws tourists to learn more about its communist legacy, a phenomenon now known as “Dark Tourism,” (Light, 1999) or “Communist Heritage.” This concept keeps Romanians in a dilemma between maximizing profit from tourism and moving past the country’s communist legacy (Light, 2000).
In addition to “Dark Tourism,” another reason tourists visit Romania is because of the association with the fictional character Dracula. Even though sites associated with Dracula serve as a good marketing strategy to attract tourists, Romanians would rather have tourists visit to appreciate their society, culture, and vast natural attractions. So-called “Dracula Tourism” upsets Romanians because it does not display Romania as the modern, developed country it desires to be (Light, 2007). This poses a predicament on how to reconcile these two conflicting approaches.
2.2 Recent Tourism in Romania and Sibiu
Currently the tourism industry in Romania is experiencing a significant upward trend. Figure 2.3 displays this movement and details the number of arrivals in tourist accommodations in Romania in the last fifteen years, which have grown from 6.22 million in 2006 and peaked at 13.37 million in 2019. The year 2020 is a special case as the outbreak of COVID-19 vastly reduced travel globally. The most popular tourist locations in Romania are cities, accounting for over half of domestic tourists and almost 90% of international tourists in 2019. In comparison, only about 20% of domestic tourists and less than 10% of international tourists stayed in the mountains in the same year (National Institute of Statistics Romania, 2020). Overall, the tourism scene in rural regions of Romania is less popular than that of more urban areas.
Figure 2.3 Number of arrivals in tourist accommodations in Romania from 2006 to 2020 (in millions)
(Eurostat, 2021).
However, there is potential for tourism growth in the rural areas of Romania due to its vast mountain ranges and cultural history. These areas offer a wide variety of tourist activities, such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, viewing historical monuments, and experiencing the traditional culture of the communities (Turnock, 1999). For example, one study examined the possibility for agrotourism (farmer supported rural tourism) to encourage sustainable development within Sibiu county, and found that tourists’ desire to reconnect to nature and to learn more about tradition and culture has strongly motivated rural tourism in the region (Mirela, 2017).
Though Sibiu contains the beautiful landscapes and deep cultural heritage that tourists seek, tourists often favor other destinations. In a survey asking Central Europeans to assess the attractiveness of Central European countries for hiking and winter sports, only 39.0% of respondents rated Romania as a desirable location for mountain hiking. Other countries such as Austria and Slovakia respectively received 74.9% and 79.0% approval ratings for hiking, making it clear that Romania is not the first choice for Central European hikers (Krzesiwo et al., 2018). Following the trends of the country at large, the main attraction of Sibiu County is the city of Sibiu itself (Figure 2.4). In 2007, the European Union recognized the city of Sibiu as a European Capital of Culture; and European Best Destinations ranked the city sixth in the “20 Best European Destinations to Visit in 2020” (Romania Insider, 2019; Rodriguez, 2020). Despite this positive recognition, Sibiu County in total receives only 4.20% of the total tourists in Romania (Popescu, 2015). Generally speaking, tourists overlook the rural regions of Sibiu in favor of staying in the city or traveling to other mountainous Central European countries.
2.2.1 Organizations Involved in Promoting Tourism in Sibiu
Due to limited tourism activity in the Sibiu region, several organizations aim to promote tourism and culture in Sibiu. In 2005, the Sibiu County Council established the Sibiu County Tourism Association (SCTA) as an organization focused on the management and marketing of Sibiu County as a tourist destination. The SCTA’s goals include expanding and promoting tourism in Sibiu County, building a framework for the creation of various forms of tourism services, and utilizing internal and external promotion tools to support the implementation of local, regional, national and European tourism development strategies (Asciaţia Judeţeană de Turism Sibiu, n.d.). The organization’s website, www.sibiu-turism.ro, strives to make Sibiu an attractive tourist destination by listing a wide variety of useful information, such as popular destinations, activities, travel methods, and accommodations.
Figure 2.4 Sibiu, Romania
(Stanley, 2017).
The Mioritics Association—another organization that promotes tourism in Sibiu—specifically emphasizes cultural tourism: a type of tourism activity where the visitor’s main motivation is to learn, discover, experience, and consume cultural attractions or products in a tourism destination (World Tourism Organization, n.d.b). A non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in 2004, the Mioritics Association’s main goal is to protect and promote cultural and natural heritage in Romania and to expand cultural tourism in Romania. The Mioritics Association contributes to the Sibiu and Transylvania region by producing promotional materials for the Transylvanian area such as maps, brochures, and guides, and marking over 250 kilometers of hiking and biking trails in Sibiu (Asociatia Mioritics, n.d.). Figure 2.5 displays a map of the hiking and biking trails in the Transylvanian Highlands, located in the northern portion of Sibiu county. It also shows blue and red trail markings from the Mioritics Association. Since the rural population in Romania takes pride in their location and lifestyle (Turnock, 1999), it is important to the Mioritics Association to promote and take care of these rural regions in order to preserve that culture.
Figure 2.5 The network of hiking and biking trails in the Transylvanian Highlands
(The Ecotourism Association of Romania, 2020).
2.2.2 Businesses in Sibiu County
Sibiu County is growing as a tourist destination and between hotels, hostels, villas, chalets and campsites, the region already has over 400 facilities (Sibiu County Tourism Association, 2021). The SCTA website also advertises a number of travel agencies and tour guides specialized in the Sibiu County area. However, researchers that analyzed Sibiu County indicated that these businesses (shown in Figure 2.6) have room for growth. They concluded that “the Sibiu destination looks to be a fragile complex system in which the stakeholders do not seem to be particularly inclined in forming cooperative groups” (Grama & Baggio, 2013). They claim that collaboration and cooperation between businesses may serve to strengthen the business network.
Figure 2.6 Types of businesses included in the Sibiu destination network
(Grama & Baggio, 2013).
Rural tourism in Sibiu County provides an opportunity for economic growth. The historical region of Transylvania has become the strongest example of rural tourism in Romania. Rural businesses could reap numerous benefits by accommodating tourists, including supplementing their income, breaking down rural isolation, and highlighting cultural heritage (Iorio & Corsale, 2010). However, barriers such as a lack of funds and skills impede their ability to cater to tourists. Additionally, visitors need accommodations in order to visit the rural areas, and as seen in Figure 2.7, Sibiu County only has 11-50 rural accommodation structures. In comparison, the neighboring county of Brasov has over 100 (Iorio & Corsale, 2010). This may limit rural tourism in Sibiu, despite the region’s many offerings.
Figure 2.7 Distribution of rural accommodation structures in Romania by county
(Iorio & Corsale, 2010).
2.3 The Relationship Between Trails and Trail Users Around the World
Most hiking in Sibiu County takes place in three regions. Mărginimea Sibiului, a pastoral area with low and middling difficulty trails provides a cultural experience with the locals. Next are the Transylvanian Highlands, a hilly region boasting 500 km of hiking/biking trails, traditional villages with fortified churches, and the Via Transylvanica, a 1000 km long-distance trail comparable to the Appalachian Trail in the Eastern United States. Finally, the Țara Făgărașului area (see Figure 2.8), also known as the Carpathian Gates, lies in the middle of the Southern Carpathians. Experienced hikers and mountain bikers favor this mountainous area for its higher difficulty and a stop along the 6000 km E8 path that snakes across Europe (S. Manea, personal communication, February 9, 2021).
Figure 2.8 Făgăraș Mountains, Romania
(Dragomir, n.d).
There are two important caveats about the trail networks in Sibiu County. Firstly, no single entity manages these properties. Trails run through land owned by local governments, private citizens, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), making organized maintenance difficult (M. Dragomir, personal communication, February 9, 2021). This divided ownership has caused local political clashes: often, the interests of trail users do not align with those of the property’s owners. In interviews, participants expressed their concerns regarding the balance of power between the different parties. A trail guide mentioned how foreign landowners and hunting organizations often restrict access to their land, while loggers demolish entire areas which leaves them unsightly and difficult to navigate. Despite their concerns, these groups typically generate substantial local income and hold significant political influence, rendering them untouchable by local trail users.
Secondly, the region’s trail network is expansive but not well mapped. To combat this obstacle, there are organizations addressing this issue. In recent years, the Mioritics Association led multiple projects to map and mark existing trails, expanding the documented trail network by over 550 km in total (Asociatia Mioritics, 2015 and 2016). While the added infrastructure is a sign of significant progress in trail management, there are still more trails in Sibiu county left without any marking or mapping.
2.3.1 Attracting Visitors
Natural attractions compete for visitors with other attractions, such as shopping centers and movie theatres. By analyzing parks across Europe, certain recurring factors impact the popularity of national parks. Researchers analyzing these factors in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria found two key factors: park budget and the number of park employees (Stemberk et al., 2018). Interviews with park managers and a retrospective analysis of recorded park data suggested that increasing park budget increases the national park attendance (Stemberk et al., 2018).
Another study, focused on Finland, found that across 35 national parks the two key factors impacting the number of park visitors are the number of recreational activities and the number of biotopes (Neuvonen et al., 2010), which are regions with uniform environmental conditions and species (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Parks with more unique ecosystems and breathtaking scenery attract more visitors, while increasing the number of recreational activities available within a park also improves park popularity (Neuvonen et al., 2010). Examples of recreational park activities include lodging, viewing towers, and extensive trail networks.
While only 4.20% of the total tourists in Romania (Popescu, 2015) come to Sibiu, there is potential for growth in Sibiu’s tourism industry. From mountain peaks to rolling hills and plains, as well as many animals specific to the region, Sibiu has multiple biotopes. With over 500 km of trails, Sibiu county has an extensive trail network attractive to visitors. Coupled with an opportunity to witness landscape and wildlife not seen elsewhere in Europe (bears, wolves, and lynx are examples), Sibiu can attract tourists looking for a chance to observe nature up close without straying far from the beaten path. By taking advantage of the natural attractions and already existing trail network, Sibiu can promote itself to potential tourists, growing the county’s tourism industry.
2.3.2 Catering to Trail Users
Businesses in Vietnam and Malaysia practice strategies that encourage tourists to spend more time and money at local businesses. Customers in these areas have desired comforts including access to information, nearby food and lodging, and often guided tours. Businesses that adapted to customer expectations experience increased customer satisfaction and spending. While businesses in both countries addressed different demands, their general method and results of their efforts can serve as an example for Sibiu businesses.
Vietnamese Traveler Cafes
Because of the language barrier between locals and tourists in Southeast Asia, backpackers have flocked towards traveler cafes (similar to an internet cafe). In Vietnam, these cafes became a part of backpacker enclaves, a cluster of cafes, cheap housing, and budget restaurants (Lloyd, 2006). Despite a lack of ‘up-scale’ tourist services, local businesses provide tourists with everything they desire (food, accommodation, information), all with convenient access to transportation and the inner city (Lloyd, 2006). Furthermore, workers in the tourist trade adapted to the origins of their visitors by offering new cuisines and providing information in multiple languages (Lloyd, 2006). The success of these cafes and other enclave businesses boils down to identifying the required accommodations for tourists. Recognizing the cultural backgrounds, preferred languages, and reasons for tourist visits pushed entrepreneurs to communicate in French and English. The switch from Vietnamese to French and English improved traveler experience, making information more accessible and conversation more feasible between both visitors and locals. With an improved experience, travelers became more inclined to extend their stays while supporting local businesses.
Malaysian Mountain Climbers
Looking to create a successful marketing and management campaign, researchers in Malaysia studied the pull-factors of certain mountains. These factors are the accessibility, landscape, the tour company, and perceived risks (Mohd Taher et al., 2015). Analyzing mountains based on these factors provided insight into the type of potential visitor. By surveying visitors at multiple mountains, the researchers drew conclusions based on visitor perception and hiker demographics. One of these conclusions was that a mountain with higher perceived risks draws more experienced hikers while inexperienced hikers prefer mountains with lower perceived risks (Mohd Taher et al., 2015). Knowing about the type of hiker attracted to their region, businesses and tour companies can tailor their services to the desires of the visitor. By acknowledging the consumer base, tour companies can tailor tour packages to target a specific type of tourist, improving the visitor experience.
While businesses in Vietnam and Malaysia adapted differently, there is similarity in their approach. In each case, businesses built profiles of their visitors and adapted accordingly which positively impacted them and their customers. The SCTA and Mioritics Association look to improve the entire visitor experience, on and off the Sibiu trails. Since businesses contribute to the visitor experience, it is crucial that they adjust their practices to meet and exceed the needs of trail users. But before businesses can adapt to trail users, they must be aware of the gaps between the expectations of trail users and the reality of services they currently provide.
2.4 Data Collection in Other Parks
National parks and trail systems require consistent visitor data and feedback to anticipate the behavior of visitors and to effectively maintain the land. Counting systems track visitor movement in particular areas, allowing trail managers to identify the most popular trails, peak visiting times, and other important information. Feedback systems allow trail managers to recognize when and where the trails need improvements. This section provides examples of counting and feedback systems that other trail systems and park areas have in place to collect visitor data.
2.4.1 Counting and Feedback Systems
Monitoring the Socioeconomic Impact of the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) of the United States has a strong demand for a socioeconomic monitoring system (SEM) to track the economic impact their parks have on the populations living in and around them (NPS, 2021). Previously, the NPS conducted small-scale surveys on topics from park visitation to park progress measurement, but lacked a cost-effective, system-wide program to collect and organize the survey data. Therefore, the NPS designed and implemented a pilot SEM system into 14 of their parks in 2015 to assess the effectiveness of the system in improving management and visitor experiences.
The NPS designed the SEM questionnaire as a standardized survey to gather system-wide information. Chosen through a pilot development workshop, the survey questions asked visitors to choose from a list of response options, providing open response opportunities where appropriate (NPS, 2021). The questionnaire used English as the primary language, but additional languages were available depending on the area. Researchers administered the SEM visitor survey at 14 pre-selected NPS locations as a personally delivered, self-administered, mail-back survey (NPS, 2021). The study population included visitor groups with at least one group member aged 18 or older in the park during the survey period. The NPS completed a nonresponse bias analysis for each park included in the pilot study. In an attempt to counteract the nonresponse bias and collect more information, park staff conducted a short, five-question interview of all eligible visiting groups. Results indicated that the pilot system served as an effective strategy to compile data. With at least two years of implementation, aggregated data from this system can reduce the margin of error in national studies and subsample analyses such as comparing park types and visitors (NPS, 2021).
Counting Visitors with Acoustic Slab Sensors in the Swiss National Park
For Swiss National Park (SNP), located in the Western Rhaetian Alps in eastern Switzerland, monitoring visitor flow is essential for park management. The SNP looked to develop an accurate counting system that required minimal human resources. Hikers are forbidden from straying off the trails, making acoustic slab sensors a viable option to indirectly count trail visitors (Siegrist et al., 2006). Caretakers installed four of the acoustic sensor slabs at the Mingѐr and Margunet Valley, and two more at Trupchun Valley. Each sensor consists of two pressure sensitive slabs buried under an 8-10 cm thick layer of soil (Siegrist et al., 2006). Each sensor connects to a data logger that registers the visitors hourly. To calibrate and check the accuracy of the sensors’ automatically collected data, caretakers manually counted the number of visitors for two days. The difference between the human-collected data and the automatically collected data provided the resources necessary to calculate a calibration factor to apply to future data collections (Siegrist et al., 2006). However, the study left researchers with numerous questions and concerns, such as: What is the sensitive area of the counter? How does step length affect the counting? Can sensors count the number of individuals walking in a group? Does composition of covering material affect the sensors counting? Due to all these uncertainties, the sensors consistently underestimated or overestimated the number of passing visitors and the sensors ended up as an unreliable source of data. A sensor, no matter the type, needs further testing, but it is difficult to get perfect results when human behavior itself is unpredictable.
Tracking Tourists in Real-Time in Portugal’s Naturtejo Global Geopark
The Naturtejo Global Geopark located in Portugal features extensive walking and hiking trails for visitors to use at no charge. However, with no registry of visitors, there is no concrete knowledge about how the tourists use the various walking routes. In order to make more informed decisions, park managers proposed a two-phase visitor counting system to count and track tourists’ movements in real-time using light beams and the Media Access Control (MAC) addresses of tourists’ own smartphones (Dionisio et al., 2016).
In phase one, an electronic system remotely counted people passing on the trails. To withstand the elements, a small solar panel powered each sensor and its 3G/4G wireless communication module (Dionisio et al., 2016). For narrow paths, Naturtejo Geopark adopted an inexpensive sensor solution with low power consumption and easy installation. The system consisted of a horizontal infrared light beam with an opposite reflector (as seen in Figure 2.9). This type of light beam system counts a ‘tick’ each time a passing guest breaks the beam. However, people must pass with a gap of at least 10 cm in between each other for the sensor to count them as two separate people (Dionisio et al., 2016). Despite this constraint, the Fossils Trail counting system in Penha-Garcia showed an accuracy level of 95 percent: adequate to estimate visitor flow. The light counting system updates a Google Maps-based web interface that Geopark managers can monitor in real time.
Figure 2.9: Installed light beam sensor in Naturtejo National Park
(Dionisio, 2016).
Phase two of the visitor tracking made use of the Wi-Fi communication’s technology that is standard on most smartphones and other portable electronics. A MAC address is a 12-character identifier unique to a device (Dionisio et al., 2016). Smartphones use the MAC address to connect to public Wi-Fi spots and consequently broadcast this address constantly. Naturtejo National Park implemented data collection using the MAC address by installing sensors that act as Wi-Fi receivers to pick up unique MAC addresses emitted from the smartphones with a range up to 100 meters (Dionisio et al., 2016). Monitoring the MAC addresses on different Wi-Fi hotspots located throughout the park yields estimates of visitor movement. Despite not every guest having a smartphone, Wi-Fi tracking is still representative of the population due to the large sample size.
Background knowledge on both feedback and counting systems was essential for the team to appreciate prior to completing the project. The Sibiu Country Trails currently lack high tech data collection methods and can learn from other existing practices. The NPS posed a strategy to collect trail user information through surveys and interviews. The Swiss National Park and Naturtejo Global Geopark created unique mechanisms to count the number of people who use their trails. The Sibiu County Trails can potentially adapt these methods to implement their own feedback and counting systems in order to more effectively collect visitor information.
2.4.2 Crowdsourcing Information
While many parks desire to collect data to assist with park management, limited funding has led them to turn towards crowdsourcing their data. Crowdsourcing is a method of obtaining data through the Internet from a large number of typically unpaid people. Several parks, like Asylum Lake Preserve (AL) at Western Michigan University have utilized a crowdsourced reporting system to decrease resource strain from park management. To test the effectiveness of crowdsourced data, developers built a reporting system for AL using a smartphone app as a platform. The reporting system serves as a low maintenance data collection service for the preserve managers, with each report including a location tag, description, and picture (Ebenstein, 2015). During a testing period, users submitted eight issues, including trash reports (bottles, plastic bags, styrofoam), trail maintenance issues (holes in the trail, large trenches, large stumps), and misplaced canoes (Ebenstein, 2015). Because of the crowdsourced nature of the reporting system, managers found that they did not have to traverse the park’s trails themselves to find problems since trail users provided all relevant information. The app, with its integrated reporting system, greatly sped up the response time of the park management, decreased the number of issues present, and left more trail users satisfied with their visit.
The Mioritics Association is interested in crowdsourcing information from trail users in Sibiu. With insufficient staff, it is nearly impossible to keep the trail network well-maintained year-round. For AL, the crowdsourced reporting system decreased the number of staff necessary to properly manage and oversee park land. The Sibiu County trails can apply the same principle. Additionally, the trail managers can use crowdsourcing information for other purposes such as obtaining and synthesizing trail user feedback to help address other issues such as hunting and logging and share positive experiences within a promotional strategy.
2.5 Internet-Connected Solutions
2.5.1 Romanian Internet Speed and Access
Romania has the third fastest average fixed broadband speeds in the world as of August 2020 (Speedtest, 2020). However, Romania is not exempt from technical issues typically found in rural areas. In a survey regarding how respondents would rate high-speed access in rural areas of Romania, one third of participants claimed “fairly bad” or “very bad” transmission speeds (European Commission, 2020). While the ready availability of technology (especially smartphones) in Romania makes it tempting to use online platforms, solutions should not rely heavily on high-speed capacities given that Sibiu is a mostly rural county. In addition, while a purpose-built application could be a convenient option for hikers, the cost of creating and maintaining such an app may be prohibitive. In Romania, app development costs at least 570 euros but could potentially cost hundreds of dollars more (Marcoianu, 2019). As a result, the following research details some applications that already exist on the market.
2.5.2 Existing Reporting Forms
Many parks and trail networks make use of reporting forms to ascertain knowledge of when to address issues along the trails. The trail issues include but are not limited to sign damage or vandalism, impassable trail conditions, and abundant trash along the trails. Trail visitors fill out reports, either online or on paper, allowing trail managers to assess and solve problems in an effective and timely manner. Reporting forms can benefit understaffed areas like Sibiu, which are unable to constantly monitor the trails in search of problems.
The project collaborators provided the team with four examples of online reporting forms for trail networks in the United States, Canada, and France. The four organizations that created and actively monitor these forms are Keystone Trails Association in Pennsylvania (KTA, 2021), Island Trails in Canada (Report, 2021) (see Figure 2.10), Tahoe-Pyramid Trail in California and Nevada (Tahoe-Pyramid, 2020), and Suricate in France (Signaler, 2021). Each of the reporting forms has similar questions that enable trail managers to address issues as they appear. Each form asks the user to identify the problem through a drop-down menu, written description, photos, or a combination thereof. The other important question that all the forms have in common is reporting the location of the issue. There are several apparent methods to gathering location information including selection of the trail name from a drop-down menu, GPS coordinates, description of nearby landmarks, and connecting location with the location of the users’ smartphone. Lastly, each form requests contact information of the reporter to allow trail managers to contact them for further information if needed.
Figure 2.10: Example reporting form from Island Trails, Canada
(Report, 2021).
2.6 Summary
This chapter reviewed the history and dynamics of tourism in Romania. The Sibiu County trails have great potential as a tourist attraction, but the key to unlocking that potential is information. Land managing organizations in other countries proactively gather data on how many people use trails, who the users are, the problems they encounter, and what these trail users need—all of which enables them to directly address tourists’ expectations. If trail managers and businesses in Sibiu County adopt these practices, they can better cater to tourists, which in turn will attract more visitors and yield local economic benefits.
Before advancing with the project, the team considered the project stakeholders: the Sibiu County Tourism Association and Mioritics Association, the local businesses in Sibiu, and the trail users—including domestic and international tourists, tour guides, and trail managers. The Sibiu County Tourism Association and the Mioritics Association are official collaborators for this project and serve as our connections to the Sibiu region. The intent is to build off these organizations’ previous work and deliver useful products. Since local business owners depend on the success of their business, the project’s end result will ideally deliver useful information to keep them profitable. And of course, the project will heavily impact trail users. Whether they are visiting or working on the trails, interested in Transylvanian culture, or keen for outdoor activities, this project ultimately aimed to better the trail user experience.
Introduction
Methodology