THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECOTOURISM - SOUTH-WEST OLTENIA REGION

In the context of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the development of ecotourism is one of the real opportunities that the immediate future offers to the South-West Oltenia region. The existing facilities, the competitiveness of prices, the analysis of tourist hospitability facilities (accommodation, food for tourism, spa treatment) recommend the South-West Oltenia Region as an attractive tourist destination, but at the same time the necessary action of all those involved in tourism will have to focus on the services offered which are supposed to be of the highest quality (comparable to other development regions) and the maintenance of an attractive environment. When the environment and tourism coexist in homogeneity, the natural environment benefits from tourism (and vice versa!). The importance of this reciprocal relationship is also reflected in the positive actions of conservation and enhancement of the cultural tourism heritage, but we should not forget the destructive actions of some tourism activities, such as: the use of environmental components (water, air, soil, flora, terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, etc.) for recreational purposes, by means of an irrational, often brutal human intervention on the natural resources. To this goal, sustainable tourism is and will be in harmony with the environment and the population, so that its development is to their benefit and not to their detriment. Sustainable development must focus on the use of renewable and non-renewable resources to meet the needs and aspirations of one generation, without compromising meeting the needs and aspirations of the future generations.