Abstract

The unique originality of the tourist exchange is that it is not the product but the tourists who consume it that are subject to relocation from their place of permanent residence to the tourist destination. The tourist as consumer moves to the tourist "product" to take advantage of its integrated components - natural (landscapes, climate), material (services and equipment) and human (societies and civilizations, historical and socio-cultural landmarks). With the development of this process, complex relationships emerge between tourists and local community with reflections on economic and social life. And they require management in an organizational and functional way. The awareness in this regard is in fact, very important for the competitiveness of the tourist offer and has a significant effect on regional sustainability. It is in this direction that the present study aims to explore one of the aspects of the impact that is being discovered in connection with the implementation of cross-border projects funded under the EU Cross-Border Cooperation Program - Interreg A with regional orientation to the Romania-Bulgaria border area. The focus is on identifying the manifestations of sustainability as a consequence of indirect investment in tourism and on outlining and taking concrete action as a result of the implemented projects. It is also defined by the presumption, that effects on regional economies and social characteristics should be high while respecting the sustainability of project results.

Keywords: sustainability, tourism, cross-border collaboration and projects, regional effects.

Paper is available here: https://ideas.repec.org/a/rom/terumm/v15y2020i3p48-67.html