THE TOURISM BRAND OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CRAIOVA – THE MUSEUM TOURISM

Abstract

Museum tourism in the Municipality of Craiova can contribute significantly to the competitiveness of the "Craiova" tourism destination through a cultural infrastructure of the urban area, together with other cultural and recreational facilities (libraries, business tourism, concert halls, outdoor festivals, theatres, philharmonics, etc.) With the launch of Romania's country brand (Explore the Carpathian Garden - 2010), the concerns for the establishment of the city brand have also intensified, in order to better promote urban settlements on the local/regional/national and international tourism market. Cities such as Craiova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Târgu Jiu, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Horezu, Călimănești, Băile Olănești, Băile Govora or Ocnele Mari have made sustained efforts to transform themselves from simple cities as municipalities of residence into tourist destination brands, in order to be more easily perceived by visitors.
In addition to the large cities in the South-West Oltenia Development Region, characterized by a significant cultural and historical load, there are also smaller tourist villages (tourism destinations), which are in search of an identity on the local and regional tourism market. This is also the case of Craiova, which is the subject of this research. We also aim, through the research carried out, to contribute, from a scientific and methodological point of view, to the knowledge of the process of elaboration of a city brand (image), in order to shape and practice a new form of sustainable tourism for the inhabitants – the museum tourism.