With its 800-year-old history, with its multi-ethnic population and with a high degree of culture, but also with a rapidly expanding business environment, Brașov County is currently one of the main centres of growth in Romania. Because of this, local authorities have started a series of projects to keep Brașov attractive to investors and tourists alike.
The geographic position of the Brașov County – in central of Romania, in the south-west of Transylvania, along the middle of the Olt River watercourse and at the meeting point of two mountain ranges (Eastern and Southern Carpathian Mountains) – has transformed it into an important hub of Romania. Its geographic advantage and its infrastructure (the Brașov County has the highest density of railroads from the Centre Development Region (62km/1,000 square km) and two international roads) have helped in developing policies which have led to transforming Brașov in a competitive county both for its residents, and for its investors.
Brașov, a “Smart Tourism” Destination
The age of smart technologies prompted the local authorities in to answer the ever-growing global demand: the implementation of smart solutions to promote its tourist destinations. Brașov County is the first tourist destination in Romania preferred by both Romanian and foreign tourists. In 2018, Brașov County Council developed, with its own resources, a tourism advertising platform: www.brasovtourism.ro.
It is basically a marketing tourism promotion package based on new technologies – online platforms, smartphone apps, interactive maps – whose content is permanently updated with the help of the municipality. This action plan, based on the power of partnership, has yielded very good results during the past three years. In its promotional activities, the Brașov County authorities managed to include tens of representatives who wished to advertise Brașov beyond Romanian borders.
From the very beginning, the platform was structured on the principles of “collaborative economy”. Consequently, this app aims to create spaces in which demand and supply for tourism services and products are connected.
The Brasov Tourism App platform engulfs all the functions of Brașov Tourism: website and back office on the iOS and Android operating systems. It is a friendly platform, both with tourists and with the environment, because it brings in the forefront the idea of promoting a sustainable form of tourism that respects nature and the unique cultural heritage of Brașov County.
Ecotourism Is Helping You Uncover the Secrets of Brașov
In order to promote the cultural and natural tourist attractions of Brașov County, but also to highlight the thematic routes in this county, local authorities in Brașov have become a partner in the project Thematic Trail Trigger – ThreeT, financed through the Interreg Europe programme. ThreeT is centred on the principle of cultural tourism and ecotourism sustainability and it aims to improve tourists’ access to the destinations in the county, through developing public policies of accessibility and unmotorized mobility (cycling routes, hiking trails etc.); through the protection of the natural heritage; through the local socio-economic development resulting from ecotourism. Brașov County is implementing this project alongside other eight European partners.
Integrated Management for a European Administration
A high-performance administration, capable of coming up with integrated solutions to complex problems, needs integrated management systems. That is why the Brașov County is searching for solutions to improve. Thus, the administration implementing the project “Integrated management system at European standards for the administration of Brașov County”. The goal is to improve the process of providing the services offered by the local authorities in Brașov County, through the implementation, certification and usage of two performance management instruments in public administration: the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the Quality Management System ISO 9001:2015.
(From the special edition of TB 86 – „ENJOY TRANSYLVANIA!” – May/June 2019)
