Plenary Lecture
The Factors with Major Incidence in the Development of Sustainable Tourism
Professor Mirela Mazilu
University of Craiova
Faculty of Social sciences
Department of Geography
Romania
E-mail: mirelamazilu2004@yahoo.com
Abstract: Contemporary tourism is a social and especially a cultural process; it is a way o life of today's man. Up to modern times, the basic social relations represented a function of social proximity. The local communities, with a local cultural environment, sharing fundamental values, have eased the definitions of identity by the individuals and have given a meaning to the social groups, which are generally stable.
All the values are combined within the “mass culture” society, which leads to the isolation of an individual among the "many loners”. The third stage that of the "tourist" transformation of the world is reached!.
The process is unfolded in various parts of the Globe. This aims mainly at the developed countries and regions, but it gradually expands to the whole world. Tourism is, before all, a form of the human behaviour. Man is the essential subject of tourism. This can be explained if we understand man, as a human being with its social, cultural needs.
This article will look at the big picture of tourism development impacts and approaches to deliver low impact development. It will teach a holistic approach to planning and sustainable tourism development that reviews governments’ and international donors’ role in rural land development, stressing bioregional planning as a key tool for governments and their donors to move rural areas into a more thorough process for sustainable regional development.
Two elements are essential in the tourism industry system: how to make use environmentally, sustainably of the tourism potential of the landscape and the anthropogenic potential. The following are dedicated to them. Why ecology in tourism? Why ecology of hospitality? Why ecology of tourism? These are questions that I have partially answered and the book tries to bring to the attention of tourism phenomenon lovers issues, thoughts, experiences.
However, major changes in economic growth patterns are taking place by focusing on intensive types, on sustainable development, globalization and integration fields. In this context, tourism acts as a social component, with a significant participation in the overall progress and, not least, as a promoter of globalization and sustainable development factor.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Mirela Elena Mazilu is professor of the University of Craiova,Social Sciences Faculty,Department of Geography, Romania. She has many national and international researches naming 14 books which were published as a single author; 6 university manuals especially in tourism; over 187 articles which were published in the volumes of the national and international Congresses, symposiums, conferences and seminars and also in prestigious magazines with CNCSIS range and over 194 participations to scientific events. Also, she published over 44 articles in international magazines in different fields such as: Sustainable tourism,European integration, ecology, environment protection, tourism and 46 articles in national journals CNCSIS,etc. She has 36 articles published in International Journals of specialty with ISI range and 12 in Naun Journal and many others international journals. Her papers are cited in International Data Bases (42).With multiple preoccupations in the field of tourism, organizer of 2 Euro-regional fairs of tourism(with participation of Mondial Travel Organization) and 3 International Conferences(2004,2006,2009) and in the 4th Conference organized the Special Session "Sustainable Tourism" in collaboration with WSEAS, Plenary Lecturer in Conference :Economy, Management and Transformation 2010 (EMT' 2010) ,ICAB ‘2012 Montreux,CUHT,2011,Corfu,organized by WSEAS, President Organizing Committee of TED’2011, Chairman in many national and international conferences, reviewer in 4 Journals of Tourism, coordinator of over 21 research grants, member of doctoral commissions, winner of many diplomas of excellence on tourism and prizes for the researches made in tourism, member of many national(16) and international(22) tourism organizations (AIEST,CIRET,TIES,SUSTAINABLE TOURISM,TTRA,REZOTOUR, SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE MOUNTAIN RESEARCH NETWORK, CEDIMES, etc.). Also member of Editorial boards of national and international journals on tourism, President of 2 NGO, in Tourism, reviewer in 6 international Journals.