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negative impact upon the environment, affecting at the same time the main tourist
attractions. Another attraction of the Park is related to the hunting found in terms
of chasing campaigns and even poaching, which reduces the game populations and
has an impact on habitat fragmentation.
“Muntii Maramuresului” Natural Park offers special opportunities for tourists
to get in touch with the biodiversity, in general, and with specific elements of
fauna and flora, in particular, and respectively with other types of assets, such as
the Narrow Gauge Railway, etc., thereby promoting environmental protection and
tourist education. In this sense, we have to use the existing opportunities, to observe
the tourism strategy and to develop the adequate infrastructure, by involving the
interested stakeholders.
Recreation and tourism values were assessed in the Vaser Valley through a sur-
vey aiming to assess the contribution of 10,000 visitors who came to this area,
estimated to around 4,835,000.00 RON. At the same time, willingness to pay for
the different guided tours and conservation programmes was used to estimate non-
use values of wildlife, cultural heritage and hayfields (Fig. 21.9 ) (Romanian Forest
Administration, 2009 ).
Another threat to the tourist potential of the subject area is represented by
the loss of connection with the “wood civilization”. The new constructions have
modern and futuristic influences from the Western Europe, which generates a
coloured and mixed landscape, characterised by contrasts, totally unattractive to
tourists. Therefore, tourist agencies are not interested in promoting Romanian
tourism outside the country, their major interest being the promotion of interna-
tional travel destinations. Unfortunately, this is a fact and the proof consists in
the overall tendency of the Romanians to spend their holidays abroad, rather than
visiting “traditional” Romanian destinations. However, since the establishment of
“Muntii Maramuresului” Natural Park, the number of tourists in Vaser Valley (the
most important tourist attraction in the area) has been continuously growing, from
Fig. 21.9 Willingness to pay for conservation (Romanian Forest Administration, 2009 )
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