ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF NATURAL HAZARDS ON TOURISM ON THE LEFT BANK OF LAKE IZVORU MUNTELUI (NORTH-EASTERN ROMANIA)

One of the areas with great touristic potential in Romania’s mountains is Izvoru Muntelui Lake (Neamt county) from the western slopes of the Stânișoara Mountains in the Eastern Carpathians. The area is remarkably picturesque in terms of both the natural surroundings and history, including traditions, folklore, and ethnography. Nevertheless, the region is exposed to natural risk phenomena such as floods, landslides, crumbling, etc., which can affect different economic fields, including tourism. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between this zone's natural hazards and tourism activities and their impact. Our approach is based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, interview and questionnaire techniques, but also on literature review, field research, statistics, overlay and spatial mapping of data using GIS techniques and critical interpretation of results through mathematical statistics using Covariance Product of Deviations from the mean and the Bravais-Pearson linear correlation coefficient to measure the intensity of the interdependence between the degree of damage to the road infrastructure and the tourist infrastructure. The results show that the landslides significantly impact the public infrastructures between Poiana Teiului and Bicaz, heavily affecting the national road DN15. A total of 73 impact points were inventoried, representing sections of roads and road infrastructure elements affected by landslides. At the same time, the analysis of the responses to the questionnaire revealed that natural hazards, especially landslides and floods, are perceived as a threat by most tourism operators in the area. The classification of the vulnerability of tourism infrastructure into four categories (low, medium, high, and very high), based on susceptibility maps, has led to the determination of vulnerability to landslides, revealing the following findings: four accommodation units have a medium vulnerability index, two have a high vulnerability index, and one records a very high vulnerability index. It is highlighted that an accurate perception of natural hazards can contribute to increasing the awareness and preparedness of vulnerable people, thus increasing the resilience of present and future generations.