Romania is the largest country in Southeastern Europe, the twelfth largest in Europe and a growing tourism destination in the world. The Dracula's Castle, the Painted churches of Northern Moldavia, and the Wooden churches of Maramureș are some of the reasons to have the fourth fastest growing demand for travel and tourism in the world, with an estimated potential growth of 8% per year from 2007 to 2016, reaching 3.5 million tourists in the first half of 2014 [1].
Having an impressive historical background, Rumania’s cultural heritage protection has become a priority not only for the local cultural institutions but also for Europe. Knowledge transfer and technical assistance operations for governmental institutions were the most important objectives in the project that aimed at improving the local capacity for protection of cultural goods.
The project included assessment of the current situation as well as the future needs concerning monitoring, coordination, operability and relationships. A monitoring and coordination system was developed for the local stakeholders by creating a strategy on integrated protection and a training strategy for local governmental institutions. Cultural goods need to be protected as intellectual achievements of humanity for our future generations. Much more needs to be done and we are happy to continue doing it following our main goal: making ideas happen!
[1] "WTTC spells out policy recommendations for Romania to tap travel and tourism potential". WTTC. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
