Romania as a Tourist Destination and the Romanian Hotel Industry

'As one of the people who has edited this new book on Romanian tourism by Cornelia Pop, et. al., I have been most impressed with this volume. As a tourism researcher who specializes in rural, remote and non-pscychocentric destinations, I believe this book has done an incredible job of tracing the evolution of the tourism industry in Romania. It has presented historical, political, geographic, and economic factors that have ontributed to the slow development of tourism in this area of eastern Europe. The book is very well researched and documented. The depth of examples is extremely impressive. As one who has known Dr. Pop for several years, this volume is a reflection of her own qualities of perseverence and attention to detail. Clearly she is also surrounded by an excellent group of scholars. I am anticipating the publication of this volume and can assure you that it will instantly gain a place in our library' Dr. Mark J. Okrant, Professor of Geography & Tourism Development, Past President of the Travel & Tourism Research Association, Plymouth State University 'I found this book both interesting and informative. I believe it will create a lot of interest because of the timing of its publishing. This is a great case study that describes the evolution of the tourism industry in Romania at a time of great political, economic and social challenges. The mere fact that the author chronicles the transformation of the tourism industry before and after the country s membership to the European Union sheds light on the forces at work that will continue to shape the country s economy. The book allows the reader to visualize this evolution by the numerous examples and statistics that are available throughout the chapters. I was intrigued and impressed by the level of research that went into the development of this manuscript. The book is easy to read and follow. A typical textbook on this topic has a tendency to make the wrong assumption that the reader has a good foundation of the country s tourism industry. This is not the case here. I teach a class on travel to new tourism destinations and this book will be appropriate to use as a required textbook. The students will have an opportunity to see for themselves the mechanics of tourism at a destination that is faced with unprecedented challenges because of all the changes that are affecting its people.' Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis, PhD, Professor and Chair, Indiana University Tourism, Conventions and Event Management Department