THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MEHEDINTI COUNTY THROUGH AGRITOURISM ACTIVITIES

Abstract

Agritourism, a component of rural tourism, has the greatest implications in the capitalization of local tourist resources and in raising the living standard of the inhabitants, in the socio-economic development of the rural locality and the community in general, and last but not least, in the protection and conservation of the natural and built environment, in the context of an economic activity based on ecological principles (tourism encourages the protection of the environment). To be suitable for agritourism, rural communities must be located in an unpolluted area, possess numerous ethnographic and cultural values as well as numerous local traditions specific to the area, with a rich historical past or having other categories of resources that provide authenticity and highlith the local specifics. In Mehedinti plateau we find a series of localities where we can develop this new form of tourism. Here we meet many rural communities where traditions, culture and popular celebrations are still very well preserved and can be exploited through agritourism.