{"id":12708,"date":"2026-10-29T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=12708"},"modified":"2026-10-29T09:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:00:35","slug":"romanias-harghita-county-included-in-worlds-top-100-sustainable-tourism-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=12708","title":{"rendered":"Romania\u2019s Harghita County included in world\u2019s top 100 sustainable tourism stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tourism development program in Harghita County, central Romania, built around gastronomic heritage, local products, and living community traditions, has been included in Green Destinations\u2019 2026 TOP 100 Stories selection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The certificate associated with the award was accepted by J\u00falia Nagy, managing director of Innotime Hungary Ltd., at the Green Destinations international conference in Kranj, Slovenia, at the request of the Harghita Community Development Association (Visit Harghita).<\/p>\n

The story \u201cTasting Szekler Heritage: How Harghita County Turns Living Traditions into Responsible Tourism\u201d was included in the Culture & Heritage category.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the story is the idea that Szekler gastronomy, local products, traditional folk costumes, handicrafts and community celebrations are not merely tourist attractions, but living cultural values that shape everyday life in the region.<\/p>\n

The submission showcased Harghita County\u2019s efforts to preserve its heritage through a range of concrete programs and results. Particular emphasis was placed on the Szekler Product trademark system, established by the Harghita County Council in 2009 to support market access, visibility and the preservation of the value of traditional local food and handicraft products. According to data published in 2024, the trademark had been awarded to approximately 1,500 products from 197 producers.<\/p>\n

Another defining element of the story was the use of gastronomic traditions in tourism.<\/p>\n

The good practice presented highlighted how these values can be transformed into tourism experiences while preserving their authenticity. One of the project\u2019s key messages was that preserving cultural heritage and developing tourism are not conflicting goals, but can reinforce one another.<\/p>\n

However, the submission was not limited to gastronomy. It also featured The Day of the Thousand Szekler Girls, one of the most important community celebrations of Szekler folk costume, folk music, and traditional dance. According to press reports, more than 5,000 people wore traditional folk costumes at the 2025 event. The celebration demonstrates that traditions are not simply memories of the past; they can still bring together people across generations.<\/p>\n

The program further highlighted the role of Visit Harghita\u2019s digital tourism platform, which makes the county\u2019s gastronomic, cultural and natural attractions accessible in three languages and helps visitors discover smaller settlements, local service providers and community programs.<\/p>\n

Green Destinations TOP 100 Stories is one of the best-known international good-practice competitions in sustainable tourism and has been organized since 2014. It aims to showcase stories that offer practical solutions to tourism\u2019s environmental, social, and cultural challenges.<\/p>\n

During the selection process, experts examined the problem addressed by each initiative, the concrete measures implemented, how local communities were involved, and the results and long-term impacts achieved. Inclusion in the TOP 100 brings international visibility, professional credibility, and the opportunity for the practice presented to become a model for other destinations to follow.<\/p>\n

In September 2026, Harghita County received the Green Destinations Silver Award, becoming the first region in Romania to receive this recognition.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tourism development program in Harghita County, central Romania, built around gastronomic heritage, local products, and living community traditions, has been included in Green Destinations\u2019 2026 TOP 100 Stories selection. The certificate associated with the award was accepted by J\u00falia Nagy, managing director of Innotime Hungary Ltd., at the Green Destinations international conference in Kranj, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}