Dynamics and Fluctuations of Tourists in Turda Salt Mine – A Case Study

Tourism has become an important sector with an increasing impact on the development of an economy. The main benefits of tourism are producing income and generating jobs. For many regions and countries is the most important source of wealth. The ability of the national economy to benefit from tourism depends on the availability of investment, to develop the necessary infrastructure and capacity to meet the needs of tourists. Romania has a great potential for tourism development in the entire country. Tourism activities contribute to income redistribution reducing the degree of poverty. In Romania, the presence of valuable natural resources, such as thermal, mineral or salt waters, sludge for treatment purposes, salt mines or herbs, favor spa tourism, which can bring significant economic benefits. To highlight this, we conducted a study in Turda, at the salt mine, Cluj County, and watched the evolution of the number of tourists over the past two decades. The comparative study shows the number of touristic entries and the entries for treatment. It resulted from the present study, that the number of tourists has risen steadily, and the explosion of visitors, both for tourism and treatment, took place in 2010, when it was completed the modernization of the mine.