THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM EVENTS ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. EFFECTS ON THE LOCAL ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE - TIMISOARA 2023

Abstract

In the current conditions of development and sustainable growth, due to its specificity, tourism represents a regional economic engine and a factor of cultural and social cohesion. A component of this industry, more current and more dynamic, is event tourism, which has recently become a very efficient and profitable niche in Romania. The present research aims to analyse the socio-economic impact of event tourism on regional economic development, first introducing its main methodological elements and the way to delimit this field from other categories of tourism. In the last part of the paper, some elements of the effect that the cultural action of the municipality of Timișoara had, following its designation as European Capital of Culture 2023, are presented.