Premises for tourism development in the settlements of the middle sector of the Prut river (Botoșani and Iași counties)

Abstract

The tendency to capitalize less known and promoted natural and cultural resources is also remarked among the current trends of the tourism development. Along time, in Romanian tourism, some areas that concentrate a greater number of resources have been capitalized in tourist activities and programmes. In the context of the current changes, starting from the need to reduce the economic disparities at regional and local level, other tourist resources have also been included in the hospitality and travel industry. In Romania, the Prut valley is characterised as an extended crossborder area with the Republic of Moldova but also as having an authentic tourist potential. Based on the bibliographic data and the field research, one has seen that the settlements situated on both banks of the Prut river own important tourist resources, the natural ones dominating, followed by the cultural ones. Consequently, the whole Prut valley offers real conditions for developing some tourism forms and attracting potential tourists interested to see a nature scarcely changed by human activities. A first tackling refers to the human settlements in the Prut corridor in the Botoșani county.