Tourist Phenomenon in Geoagiu Spa Region Within the Central Metaliferi Mountains

ISSN 0354-8724 (hard copy) | ISSN 1820-7138 (online)

Tourist Phenomenon in Geoagiu Spa Region within the Central Metaliferi Mountains

Dombay ŞtefanA*, Magyari- Sáska ZsoltA Received: November 2010 | Revised: November 2010 | Accepted: November 2010

Abstract The Central Metaliferi Mountains, situated in south-central side of the Apuseni Mountains, have a variety of natural and anthropic touristic potential, but, unfortunately, less known and not enough exploited. After conducting a survey in Geoagiu Spa we specifically recommend the following: increased number of one day tours, which are the main tourist destination in the region, many tours for visiting the major centers of cultural - historical monuments related to our past history, granting economic incentives for organizer of youth groups to attract the youth, di- versification of tourist routes with thematic actions: curiosities of nature, environment, organizing sports events with different timetable covering all seasons and all series, attracting local and foreign investors by providing tax incentives and financial programs introducing touristic resort in the international circuit. Keywords: tourist potential, natural and anthropic resources, Western Carpathians, survey

The natural and anthropic resources within the region volcanism led to the appearance of some cold mineral springs (Boholt, Şoimuş) and thermal The Central Metaliferi Mountains, situated in ones (Geoagiu, Vaţa de Jos); the south-central side of the Apuseni Mountains, • the fitogeographic fund encompasses numerous have a variety of natural and anthropic touristic characteristic elements of the leafy woods area, potential, but, unfortunately, less known and not and of the coniferous area in the higher regions. enough exploited. The most important natural resources may be The anthropic resources are especially rich in el- grouped as it follows: ements of ethnography and folklore. Within this • the geological and geomorphologic resources. unity there are three ethnographic sub areas (V. These are interesting because of the varied pet- Butură, 1978): the Zărand sub area, the Mocănimii rographic constitution, such as: volcanic cons, sub area and the “Ţara Moţilor” sub area, each of forms belonging to the exokarst and endokarst, them with valuable characteristic ethnographic el- passes, defiles, and others; ements. • the climatic touristic fund that is characterized by For a better highlighting of region’s touristic po- a temperate climate, with influences from the tential, taking in consideration a few principles, a western air mass, moist in the south, and with certain zoning may be done: the highlighting and sub Mediterranean features in the southwest; the concentration of a great number of natural and • the hydrographical potential is formed by a dense anthropic sights; the presence of some cater spaces streams network, but, generally, short, these for the tourists, to ensure the access in the area; to being affluent of the Arieş, the White Criş ensure some functional networks between the ar- (Vaţa, Bucureşci, Stănija) and the Mureş (Am- eas, both inside and outside the region. poi, Certej, Boholt, Gurasada, Valea Roşie). On We mention that this zoning refers exclusively some of these there are dam lakes: Certej on the to the researched area: Făerag, or lakes for water supply. The Neocene

A Gheorgheni University Extension, Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Str Gradina Csiky, 535500 Gheorgheni, Romania; e-mails: [email protected], [email protected] * Corresponding author: Dombay Ştefan, e-mail: [email protected]

Geographica Pannonica • Volume 14, Issue 4, 133-137 (December 2010) 133 Tourist Phenomenon in Geoagiu Spa Region within the Central Metaliferi Mountains

The area of the Ampoiu Valley that is situated at The endowments and services within the tour- the southern limit of the Trascău Mountains, in ist infrastructure extended due to the curative ef- the Ampoiului Basin. ficiency of the thermo-mineral waters from Geo- The Băiţa-Deva area overlaps both the Căianului agiu. The endowments for relaxation and cure Basin and the Mureş Passage till Simeria. increased at the beginning of the XXth century, The Brad area that is characterized by the ad- when there were built the Germisara, Diana (with vanced development of the volcanic forms. covered swimming pool) hotelier complexes and The Geoagiu area. As from the researched area endowments for enjoyment in open air. this is the best developed, we intend to research this activity in the Geoagiu-Băi spa. Characteristics of tourist demands The relief is characterized by the presence of the lime stones that lead to the appearance of in Geoagiu spa resort some very attractive forms, such as: the Mada The main objectives of this research work were: de- Passes, the Cibului Passes, dolinas where the wa- termining the frequency of tourism in the resort, ter gathered, forming lakes, for example between follow the main motivations of tourists arrived in Geoagiu-Bai and Geoagiu Sat. the resort, establishing the duration of stay and The climate of the spa is continental- temper- preferences for certain forms of accommodation, ate with ocean influences. Because of the relief it determining the transport used by tourists to vis- has a topoclimates of low mountains and hills. it the resort, setting the decisive factor for choos- The hydrograph is the most important tour- ing Geoagiu Spa resort, to determine the main seg- istic resource. We refer especially to the thermo- ments of tourists by gender, age, socio-professional mineral springs, which are the most important categories, marital status and the origin of tourists therapy factors, too. The aim of this research are to investigate the Unlike the attractive resources belonging to the causes which led the tourists to seek for the ser- natural framework, which are a gift of nature, the vices of this tourist resort, identifying the main anthropic tourist heritage represents a sum of the reasons that determined the actual tourism forms, elements created by man, for relaxation purpos- and to verify that the tourist market area has a es. Yet, the following fact has to be clearly stated: strong seasonal pattern, being attended predomi- these were not created on purpose, but, on contra- nantly summer, the transport used to come to the ry, in most of the cases these had another purpose resort are mainly based on vehicles, and that for (economic, strategic, cultural). In time they have tourists arriving in resort, the hotels represents changed their characteristics, becoming proper the preferred accommodation. touristic sights, with a relaxation character. For this research we have examined a commu- Among the most important resources from this nity of 529 tourists in the resort in two stages (in category we mention: January - February. 2008 respectively April 15 to • religious edifices: the chapel built in Roman April 30, 2009). Tourist came to Geoagiu Spa from style from the Xlllth century and the Orthodox the following counties (Fig. 1). church “Saint Nicholas” from the XVlth century Among the subjects covered by the investiga- in Geoagiu-village, the Castle and the church tion, 59% are men and 41% are women. Tourist be- from Sântămăria-Orlea, the Church from Strei longs to the following age groups (Fig. 2). from the Xlllth century, the church from Densuş After socio-professional category and mari- from the Xllth century; tal status the tourists presents the distributions • the memorial house “Ion Budai Deleanu” in the shown in Fig. 3 and 4. Cigmău village; the memorial museum “Aurel The tourists participating in survey, 42% prac- Vlaicu” in the Aurel Vlaicu locality; tice tourism in an organized way.16.7% of them • museums (The Ethnographic Museum from come to resort through various agencies, and Orăştie, the Hunedoara History Museum with 10.7% by other forms of tourism. Most come on the Corvins Castle, the Sarmizegetusa Archae- their own (58%). ological Museum, the Brad Mineralogical Mu- seum). Types of information related to Geoagiu Spa resort The tourist infrastructure ensures the accom- They are: advertising 18.7% 39.1% acquaintances plishment of the tourist consumption, being the advice, information obtained from travel agencies most expressive indicator of the economic effi- 15.2%, other ways (previous visits) 27%. ciency and of the touristic potential utilization. Its Image that presented by those who had previ- main function is to satisfy the demand through ous visits to the area have largely contributed to specific endowments and services in accordance the choice of resort. Significant share holds media, with the raising number of tourists in the spa. advertising and information obtained through

134 Geographica Pannonica • Volume 14, Issue 4, 133-137 (December 2010) Dombay Ştefan, Magyari- Sáska Zsolt

6.60% 5,85% 31.30% 20% 22% 16,79%

15% 39% 17,92% 21.70%

Hunedoara Alba Sibiu under 20 y. 21-29 30-39

Cluj Timiş Caraş-Severin 40-49 over 50 y.

Figure 1. Counties of origin of tourists Figure 2. Tourists at Geoagiu Spa categorized to the Geoagiu Spa on age groups

10.2% 25.0% 22% 44%

28.6% 22% 18.0%

18.2% 3% 9% workers with secondary education married without children married with 1 child

with higher education pupils, students married with 2 child married with 3 child

pensioners unmarried

Figure 3. Socio-professional category Figure 4. Marital status of tourists for resort guests at Geoagiu Spa to the Geoagius Spa

travel agencies. Various information ways are re- previous visits (25%). For those aged 30-39 years, the ceived differently depending on a number of indi- most important information channels are acquaint- vidual variables like age, gender, level of training. ances (39.5%) and previous visits (26.3%). In the group Thus the age perception is different. aged 40-49 years greatly increase the information As shown in the figure (Fig. 5), tourists having an received from travel agents. That way information age up to 20 years were mainly informed by oth- increases in importance in the age group between er ways (60.9%) and acquaintances (39.1%). The age 50-59 years (40%). It can be noted that regardless of group 21 to 29 years receives information particu- age, a particular influence on information about the larly through acquaintances (41.5%), other media - resort is the knowledge and advice of prior visits.

Geographica Pannonica • Volume 14, Issue 4, 133-137 (December 2010) 135 Tourist Phenomenon in Geoagiu Spa Region within the Central Metaliferi Mountains

100 (%)

0 under 20 y. 21-29 30-39 40-49 50-59

publicity acquaintances tourism agencies other way

Figure 5. Ways of information on age groups at Geoagius Spa

Of those mentioned above that Geoagiu Spa re- We can notice the following conclusions: apart sort has no appropriate promotional activity. But from the fact that promotional materials are few this phenomenon - unfortunately - is apparent in tourists do not really have confidence in them, other tourist resources in Romania. which means that those who drafted them show The information is received differently depend- a lack of professionalism. ing on the level of training. Diversity and quality is one of the main factors Thus, workers and teachers in secondary educa- of competitiveness and therefore a fundamental tion are influenced higher than students by travel problem facing the tourist industry in general, on agencies, students and persons with higher educa- which regression, stagnation or prosperity of the tion prefer to ask those who were in the resort. whole future tourism activities. National and in-

100 (%)

0 publicity acquaintances tourism agencies other way

publicity acquaintances tourism agencies other way

Figure 6. Ways of information on socio-professional groups at Geoagiu Spa

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ternational tourist experience shows that a tourist • the granting of some facilities for the economic resort which reached a level of maturity in its de- agents who organize youth camps; velopment (like Geoagiu Spa), have to live actively • to promote incentives and facilities to attract 365 days in the 365 days of the year (at least theo- the youth people on some important events of retically), which presupposes the existence of suffi- their life: marriages, honeymoon voyages, con- cient opportunities of leisure for every tourist, ac- ferences on different topics, cultural events, cording to their preferences and aspirations and a symposiums; sufficiently elastic supply of services to be restruc- • to diversify the offer of touristic routs with tured quickly depending on natural conditions, the subjects activities: nature’s curiosities; nature’s alternation of periods of seasonality, but also suffi- protection; cient attractiveness to attract the interest of tour- • to organise different sport manifestations that ists to visit these stations at any time of year. include all the seasons; • to attract the native and foreign investors by Conclusions regarding the tourist granting some financial and fiscal facilities; • to include the spa in the international circuit of phenomenon within the Geoagiu-băi spa touristic programs. The diversity and quality of the services repre- In conclusion, the offer of services has to be suf- sents one of the main factors of competitively ficiently diverse to give tourists the possibility to and, consequently, a fundamental problem con- spend their time in a pleasant way, on any occa- fronting the touristic industry in general. The re- sion and situation. In the same time, this has to be gress, the stagnation or the prosperity of the en- flexible enough to allow the substitution of some tire tourist future activity depends on it. activities with others that are easier to be carried The national and international tourist experi- on, but equally enjoyed by the tourists. ence demonstrates the fact that a tourist place at- taining a level of maturity in its development (as it is Geoagiu-Băi), has to live actively 365 days a year References (at least theoretically speaking). This suppose the Ciangă, N. 1980. Tourism in Alba County. Roma- existence of numerous possibilities of spending nian Academy Press, Bucureşti, 158-175. time for each tourist, according to his preferenc- Ciangă, N. 1985. Tourism in Apuseni Mountains. es and aims, and a sufficiently flexible services- of Studia UBB, Geol. – Geogr., Cluj-Napoca, 67-73. fer that could be rapidly reshaped according to the Ciangă, N. 1987. The apparition and development existing natural conditions, to the periods of sea- of tourism in Carpathians. Studia UBB, Geol. – sonal alternation. It also implies a sufficiently -at Geogr., Cluj-Napoca, 69-73. tractive offer to raise the tourists’ interest to visit Ciangă, N. 2001. Tourism geography in Romania. these places in any season of the year. Cluj University Press, Cluj-Napoca, 201 pp. When analysing the essence of these principles, Cocean, P. 1984. The economic potential of carst if we also take into consideration the tendencies regions in Apuseni mountains. Romanian recorded at the national level (and not only) of the Academy Press, Bucureşti, 156 pp. continuous decrease of the medium stay span of Cocean, P. 1988. Gorges and canyons in Apuse- a tourist in a spa, it becomes even more pressing ni Mountains. Romanian Academy Press, the necessity of increasing in time the intensity of Bucureşti, 166 pp. the touristic services offer in every spa, through a Cocean, P. 1992. Models of tourism development multitude of services conceived to allow the tour- in mountain regions in Romania. Studia UBB, ist to use each hour of his/her spare time in the Geographia 1-2, 121-125. most delightful way. Cocean, P. 1997. Romanian tourism of geography. To attain this state of competitiveness, the fol- Edit. „Focul Viu”, Cluj-Napoca, 152 pp. lowing are recommended: Cocean, P. 2000. Apuseni Mountains. Carst pre- • to increase the number of one day trips that cesses and forms. Romanian Academy Press, have as main destination the touristic sights Bucureşti, 235 pp. from the region; Dombay, St. 1994. Tourism geography. Edit. „Of- • to plan more trips that aims the visiting of ficina”, Szeged, Hungary, 76 pp. some important cultural and historic places, of Dombay, Şt. 1997. Genesis of volcanic landscape in some monuments related to our historical past view of global tectonics. Referate şi comunicări (the Costeşti Castle, the Grădiştea Muncelului de geografie 4, 29-39. Mountains and so on); Mac, I. 1992. General tourism geography. Facul- • to call touristic attention through advertising tatea de Geografia Turismului, Sibiu, 117 pp. means with a view to exploit the existing tech- Pop, Gr., Măhăra, Gh. 1968. Făerag lake. Hydro- nical-material resources; graphical aspects. Lucr. Ştiinţifice, vol. II, 105-112.

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