Partnership for Regional Tourism: CAPDR, under the coordination of President Ion Ștefanovici, launches the process of integrating the Gura Humorului micro-destination into the VIA MOLDAVIA Northern Route

The Centre for Regional Development Analysis and Planning (CAPDR) held, on 10 September 2026, in Gura Humorului, a new working meeting dedicated to the “Ariniș and Gura Humorului Ski Area” micro-destination, included in the Northern Route of the VIA MOLDAVIA programme

The meeting brought together local authorities, HoReCa operators, entrepreneurs, representatives of the leisure and sports sectors, as well as representatives of the cultural sector and natural heritage management, with the objective of building an integrated tourism offer and connecting it to the regional and national markets.

The meeting, held in the Council Chamber of Gura Humorului City Hall, focused on a topic with direct implications for the local economy: how tourism resources, services and private-sector initiatives within a territory can be brought together into a micro-destination capable of generating concrete tourism products and attracting a higher volume of tourism spending.

The RN-07 micro-destination covers, on an indicative basis, Gura Humorului, Mănăstirea Humorului, Frasin, Păltinoasa and the surrounding areas. It is built around the principle that local tourism can become more competitive when public administration and the private sector act in a coordinated manner.

Marius Ursaciuc: “By integrating into a single micro-destination, we can become a stronger force”

The Mayor of Gura Humorului, Marius Ursaciuc, expressed the local administration’s openness to the VIA MOLDAVIA programme and invited HoReCa operators, local entrepreneurs and the administrations of neighbouring localities to participate in building the tourism offer.

The mayor emphasised the need for as comprehensive a mapping as possible of the existing resources and for expanding cooperation beyond the administrative boundaries of the city.

“Gura Humorului City Hall is open to joining the VIA MOLDAVIA programme, and we invite HoReCa representatives and private operators to join us in carrying out a thorough mapping of the opportunities available at city level. At the same time, we welcome the localities within a 20-kilometre radius of Gura Humorului, together with the private sector in these communities. By integrating into a single micro-destination, we can become a stronger force within the VIA MOLDAVIA programme and, more broadly, within national tourism.”

The approach proposed by the local administration is based on the idea that an integrated tourism offer can generate economic effects beyond the activity of a single attraction or operator. Accommodation, gastronomy, leisure, sports, cultural and natural heritage, and events can become components of the same tourism product.

In this context, the 20-kilometre radius represents an area for economic and tourism cooperation in which complementary resources can be identified and joint routes and experiences can be created.

Private-sector operators call for a unified tourism product and a tourist card

The need for a common offer was also supported by Ramona Florea, representative of Complex La Roată in Gura Humorului.

She highlighted the need for a unified presentation of the micro-destination by linking accommodation units with local gastronomy, leisure and sports activities, and the area’s main attractions.

From the perspective of economic operators, such an approach can facilitate joint promotion and encourage tourists to use more services during the same stay.

Ramona Florea also proposed the development, within VIA MOLDAVIA, of a loyalty card for tourists, which could integrate accommodation units, restaurants, leisure facilities, sports activities and other attractions in Gura Humorului and across the micro-destination.

Such an instrument could encourage tourists to discover more components of the local offer, with a direct effect on the length and value of tourism spending. At the same time, the card could serve as a mechanism for cooperation among local operators.

Ariniș Park, a hub for active leisure and sports

The leisure and sports component was represented at the meeting by Raluca Chirap, who organises activities in Ariniș Park aimed particularly at children and families.

The offer includes ziplining, an obstacle course, and sports and recreational activities adapted to different age groups, contributing to the diversification of experiences available to tourists.

Raluca Chirap emphasised the importance of developing sports-based leisure activities both in Ariniș Park and in other areas of Gura Humorului.

From this perspective, sports and recreational activities can play an important role in extending tourists’ stays and diversifying the reasons why they choose to spend more time at the destination.

The representative of the leisure sector also expressed openness to expanding activities depending on the evolution of demand and their integration into the micro-destination’s tourism circuit.

Thus, Ariniș can become one of the micro-destination’s leisure hubs, offering activities for families and children as well as for visitors interested in sports and adventure activities.

Local events as part of a common tourism strategy

The meeting also addressed the need to coordinate local events within a common calendar, so that they can be used as tools for attracting tourists.

The idea was supported during the discussions by Ion Ștefanovici, President of CAPDR, who emphasised the need for events taking place in the localities included in the micro-destination to be known and promoted from a common perspective.

A unified tourism calendar can enable economic operators to better prepare their accommodation, food service and other tourism offers, while allowing tourists to plan their visits around the available events.

In this way, a local event becomes not merely a one-off occasion, but a component of the tourism product and of the economic activity generated within the territory.

Local entrepreneurship and the promotion of Bucovina

The perspective of the entrepreneurial sector was also brought into the discussion by Petru Moțac, who highlighted the importance of integrated promotion of the area and of connecting private initiatives to the regional tourism offer.

In a micro-destination where heritage, nature, leisure, gastronomy and services can be accessed within a relatively compact area, local entrepreneurs can become part of a broader tourism product.

This integration can contribute to increasing the visibility of local businesses and directing tourist flows towards a wider range of services.

Pyramia Guesthouse and private investment in tourism infrastructure

The discussions also included concrete examples of local entrepreneurship, including Pyramia Guesthouse, highlighting the role of private investment in the development of tourism infrastructure.

In addition, Ștefan Ghișovan presented the perspective of the accommodation sector and the investments made in this field, emphasising the importance of having tourism infrastructure capable of supporting the development of visitor flows.

Accommodation capacity is one of the essential components of a micro-destination, but its integration with other services is necessary to provide tourists with sufficient reasons to stay longer in the area.

Local gastronomy, an economic resource for the micro-destination

Another topic addressed was the development of local gastronomy and the integration of local producers and suppliers into the tourism offer.

In this context, a proposal was presented for the development of a local gastronomic point in Ilișești, an initiative that could contribute to diversifying the experiences offered to tourists and promoting local products.

Integrating gastronomy into tourism routes and products can create direct links between tourism and the local economy by directing spending towards producers and operators within the territory.

Culture and natural heritage complete the offer

The micro-destination also benefits from important cultural heritage resources. During the meeting, the role of the Bukovina Museum of Folk Customs, as part of the cultural component of the tourism offer, was highlighted.

Cultural heritage can be connected with the other resources of the micro-destination through routes and experiences that combine visits to attractions with gastronomy, recreational activities and other tourism services.

Another component is represented by natural heritage and the opportunities for its sustainable tourism development, while ensuring the protection of natural resources.

In this regard, the meeting also included the perspective of the Suceava Forestry Directorate, which can contribute to identifying and structuring natural resources that can be integrated into the tourism offer.

Mapping within a 20-kilometre radius, the basis for developing the micro-destination

A central element of the VIA MOLDAVIA model is the mapping of tourism resources starting from a central point and a standard 20-kilometre radius.

For each micro-destination, six main categories are monitored: accommodation, gastronomy, attractions, events, experiences and services.

The mapping process involves collecting operational information regarding location, access, distances and travel times, opening hours, availability, capacity and contact details.

The objective, however, is not simply to create a list of attractions, but to identify how these resources can be connected and transformed into tourism products.

In the case of Gura Humorului, the process can link accommodation infrastructure with restaurants, cultural and religious attractions, Ariniș Park, the ski area, sports activities, events and natural resources in neighbouring localities.

From local resources to marketable tourism products

The VIA MOLDAVIA model seeks to move from resource inventory to the development of concrete tourism experiences and products.

These can be designed for several hours, one day, 2–3 days, or for regional circuits connecting several micro-destinations.

The development process takes into account elements such as the route, included services, capacity, operating period, indicative price, target audience and sales channel.

The sequence proposed by the programme is SELECT → VALIDATE → BUILD → TEST → SELL.

For the private sector, this stage is essential because it turns participation in the mapping process into a concrete opportunity to integrate their own services into tourism products that can be promoted and marketed.

Gura Humorului connected to a regional tourism network

The RN-07 micro-destination is not conceived as an isolated tourism area. It is part of the VIA MOLDAVIA Northern Route, and the products developed here are intended to be connected with the offer of other micro-destinations.

Through this approach, tourists can be encouraged to extend their journeys to other parts of Moldova, while local economic operators can benefit from access to tourist flows generated by a broader network.

For Gura Humorului, the advantage of such integration lies in the opportunity to simultaneously capitalise on the resources of the city and surrounding localities, while preserving the identity of each territory and providing tourists with a more diverse experience.

VIA MOLDAVIA International Tourism Fair, the stage connecting the offer to the market

A key milestone in the process of building the tourism offer is the VIA MOLDAVIA International Tourism Fair, scheduled for 26–28 October 2026, at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest.

The meetings held in the territory represent the stage at which resources are identified, validated and structured, while the fair provides a framework for presenting products, facilitating B2B networking and developing commercial contacts within the tourism industry.

In this context, the participation of local operators in the process of building the micro-destination may have a direct economic stake: transforming individual services into components of tourism products capable of reaching new categories of customers and partners.

CAPDR continues developing micro-destinations along the Northern Route

The Gura Humorului meeting is part of a broader calendar of meetings organised by CAPDR to shape the VIA MOLDAVIA micro-destinations.

In the coming period, meetings are scheduled for RN-06 – Suceava Fortress – Suceava Municipality, on 14 September, RN-12 – Bistrița Valley, on 18 September, RN-13 – Talienilor Road, on 21 September, RN-08 – TransRarău and the ski area, on 25 September, and RN-05 – Land of Monasteries, on 28 September.

In October, meetings are planned for RN-04 – Dornelor Basin, RN-14 – Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, and RN-10 – Cultural Botoșani – Memorial Houses and Cultural Heritage, as well as for RN-11 – Iași – business tourism, city breaks and religious tourism and RN-15 – Red Lake. The dates and locations for these meetings are to be confirmed or updated.

Through this sequence of meetings, CAPDR, under the coordination of President Ion Ștefanovici, seeks to build a tourism network starting from the territory, in which local administrations, entrepreneurs and tourism operators participate in developing a common offer.

In the case of Gura Humorului, the meeting on 10 September highlighted that the development of the Ariniș micro-destination is not merely about promoting tourist attractions, but about organising a local economic ecosystem around tourism: accommodation, gastronomy, leisure, sports, culture, natural heritage, events and services.

The ultimate objective is to transform these resources into a coherent, regionally connected and market-ready offer, so that an increase in visitor numbers can translate into broader economic activity for operators in Gura Humorului and in the localities within the micro-destination’s area.