Transylvania and its whereabouts : the history and heritage beyond Dracula's legend, a tourist’s perception.

Abstract

The study will be mainly focusing on the tourist’s perception of Romania’s heritage and history. The region of Transylvania beyond the legend of Dracula will be taken as a case study. The Maltese public was targeted, however, locals from the region of Transylvania were also selected to gain more information on the matter. From the existing literature it seems that the legend of Dracula is given more importance than other resources such as nature and heritage in order to promote Romania to tourists. Hence, the real history and heritage of Romania, especially the region of Transylvania are being masked by the fictitious Dracula. Nevertheless, from the study carried out it seems that people are not only motivated to visit Romania because of Dracula but for other reasons as well. The story of Dracula is mainly influencing potential tourists because Romania and the region of Transylvania are not promoted well enough when it come to the tourism industry, thus people are relying on what they see in movies and read in books.