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Tourism is one of the emerging branches of the economy, playing an important role in the development of specific economies within local communities. In this context, the perspectives of exploiting historical monuments, seen as raw material in the tourism industry, represent a desirable goal worth considering at the locality and territorial administrative unit level. The purpose of this study is to highlight the relationship between historical monuments, viewed as factors generating tourist motivation and tourism. This was made possible by conducting a spatial analysis (at the level of territorial administrative units and localities) of the defining criteria for historical monuments and tourism in Bihor County, Romania. The research methodology involved the use of multicriteria analysis to identify and establish the types of relationships between historical monuments and tourism, at a spatial level. The results of the study aimed to present an image of the spatial distribution of the characteristics of historical monuments and tourism, as well as to establish and depict spatial relationships between them, thus partially confirming the working hypothesis that the number and importance of historical monuments influence and determine tourist activity within a given area. Thus, although the studied area has 455 historical monuments, they are not exploited from a tourist point of view, with there being no strong relationships, except at the level of 19 territorial administrative units (18.8%), respectively, in 15 localities (3.3%). Among them, the obtained values stand out for the territorial administrative units of Oradea and Biharia, respectively, in the localities of Oradea and Beiuș. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic interactions betwee n cultural heritage and tourism lead to its assertion as an increasingly complex economic phenomenon, with social and cultural implications. At the same time, the cultural heritage has acquired a special importance among the decision makers and local communities, being associated with major tourist attractions and the cultural means of exchange, as well as educational tools for implementing sustainable management by conserving and protecting heritage elements. The importance of cultural heritage requires its evaluation, quantification, and capitalization through tourism. In this context, the present study aims, using the normalization method, to highlight the relationship between the cultural heritage and the tourist infrastructure in Beiuș Land, Bihor County, Romania. The results obtained provide a global (at the level of the studied area) and detailed image (at the level of the administrative territorial unit), regarding the relations between tourism and cultural heritage. Therefore, this study can provide impetus for the development of future research aiming at capitalizing the cultural potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to determine the role and importance of the tourist information and promotin centers from Bihor county taking into consideration the economic, social and cultural influence of tourism worldwide. These centers were established to provide tourists with the necessary and updated information regarding the tourist destination, thus to become a major part in the promotion of tourist attractions. The implemented methodology based on questionnaires helped us assess the role of these centers in the shaping of Bihor county tourist destination and the analysis of the existent web sites (8 out of 13 tourist centers have got one) gave us an insight into the significance of internet promotion as a powerful marketing tool of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to assess the importance of the Jewish cultural heritage in the city of Oradea, Bihor County, Romania, an emerging and highly dynamic tourist destination. This synagogue was revealed as the most representative building pertaining to the Jewish cultural heritage was revealed based on a survey applied to the central public authorities, tourists and the local population. As a result, the Sion Neologue Synagogue stood out as the most representative of the Jewish identity heritage in a proportion of 90%, while 96% of the respondents replied that it is the most important tourist site of the city altogether, especially after its rehabilitation works. Among the other listed buildings, the Sion Neologue Synagogue was selected by the interviewees based on its uniqueness and novelty features, trimmed up in an eclectic style, imbued with Art Nouveau ornamentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the characteristics, criterias and methodology used for the creation of the Geo-tourist map of Băile Felix -- Băile 1 Mai - Betfia Area (Bihor County), located at the contact of the Tăşadului Hills and Tisa Plain. The geotourist map derived from the geological and geomorphological maps and combined the most evident geological-geomorphological features with fundamental tourist information. The goal was to produce a map that could be easily interpreted by tourists, to help them better understand the landscape. The geo-tourist map is a thematic pocket foldable colour map which will be printed with illustration notes both in Romanian and English. In addition, the tourist map contains a synthetic description of the main geological-geomorphological aspects, accompanied by relevant photos and information on excursion trails, behaviour rules, restaurants, tourist attractions in the surrounding areas etc. This type of map can succesfully contributes to the initiatives of local and regional stakeholders to improve tansfer of knowledge and tourism promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated development and expansion of cultural tourism in areas with unique tourist objectives, characterised by a high degree of risk in terms of their physical and chemical integrity, requires sustained efforts by all stakeholders to identify new methods, techniques, and procedures for their conservation, protection, and capitalisation, with respect to tourism. The aim of this study was to propose an optimal methodology for capitalising on tourism related to wooden churches, regarded as a structural item of tangible cultural heritage, with positive effects on the protection, conservation, information, and awareness of all stakeholders in tourism development. This involved the development of a web portal, in which were integrated the 3D models related to the analysed objects, the panoramic images inside them, the audio support, the photographs, and the accompanying text necessary to create and render a virtual reality (VR) production for purposes of virtual tourism (VT). The results obtained consisted of the creation of the website Bihor360°, which is freely navigable and whose content, including both textual and graphic information, can be easily accessed by all interested users. The aim involved was to release an online bridge for potential visitors to the fragile tourist attractions, facilitating the development of active knowledge and VR while raising awareness among the population and the local authorities about the role and the importance of the wooden churches in tourism and the local economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]