THE POTENTIAL INFLUENCE OF CLIMATIC CONDITIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF WINTER TOURISM IN THE EASTERN CARPATHIANS. CASE STUDY: HARGHITA MOUNTAINS

Abstract

Due to tradition, but also to the currently available tourism infrastructure, the practice of winter sports is unequally distributed throughout the Romanian Carpathians. While certain areas, such as the Prahova Valley, receive most of the local and international tourist influx, others, such as the Harghita Mountains, are left only partially capitalized, despite their notable potential. The study’s objective is to draw attention to the beneficial opportunities the development of our study area would provide to both locals and visitors. In order to do so, continuous series of meteorological data recorded over the past 49 years were analysed and interpreted, thus reaching the conclusion that the study area can broaden its present day winter sporting palette, provided that the snow layer persists from December to April.

Keywords

• climate
• trend
• tourism development