Valorizarea rețetelor cu urzici - directivă oportună dezvoltării segmentului "turism gastronomic"

Abstract

Tourism is the basic element that can ensure the dynamics of a country's development. Based on the intensification of tourist flows, tourism attracts tourists, it can contribute to increasing the attractiveness of the country not only as a tourist destination but also as a source of investment attraction. Although in the Republic of Moldova there are a multitude of forms of tourism that have been practiced since ancient times, such as: rural, religious, spa, wine tourism, there are also new forms of tourism such as gastronomic tourism, which is a relatively new form of tourism that has emerged since the 2000s, when gastronomic tours begin to appear. However, in our country more and more people are aware of the prospects of this direction of development of the tourism industry, because Moldova has an enormous potential of traditional dishes that can be tasted by tourists. Nettle represents a great potential for the development of gastronomic tourism due to its benefits for the human body, it has been used for hundreds of years for food purposes in various preparations or in a dry state for medicinal purposes, for teas. However, nowadays due to multiple alternatives, nettle has lost popularity even among local consumers. The research of this problem is predestined to identify the ways in which this product can be exploited in public catering units, tourist hostels, rest bases, contributing to the attraction of tourists passionate about gastronomy. To examine the problem addressed, we used a questionnaire-based survey to determine consumers' preferences towards nettles and an interview-based survey to identify the culinary offer of tourist guesthouses and rest centers that contain nettle plants. Following the study and analysis of the surveys used, we concluded that most consumers know about nettle plants and their use for various purposes: food, medicine, cosmetics, but most of them do not consume this product very often or have never consumed it. We also determined that very few of the public catering units, tourist guesthouses and rest centers in the country offer nettle dishes on the menu, which contributes to the low level of nettle consumption. Thus, in order to capitalize on a product with a lot of health benefits, at the same time a product that transmits a valuable load, traditions and customs of our ancestors, we must include in the offer of tourist guesthouses preparations made from nettles, illustrating the specifics of traditional cuisine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/sstc.v1.30; CZU: 338.48:641; JEL: Z300