Metropolitan areas provide many opportunities to spend quality outdoor leisure time as well as to discover many cultural attractions. Sprawl occurs in Romania quite rapidly, encouraged by the construction of ring roads around many cities and their expansion into metropolitan areas. The current paper aims to identify metropolitan tourism models based on which tourist flows can be sustainably reoriented within rural Oradea Metropolitan Area (OMA) given their the tourist potential level (i.e., very low, low, average, high). The tourist potential was scaled based on the Methodology for the Analysis of a Territory’s Tourist Potential, which stands as a law published in the Official Monitor of the 14th of June 2016. The study indicates that most tourist activity develops in the OMA southern part in Sânmartin commune, thus unsustainably capturing all tourist flows of the rural OMA. Natural and man-made tourist attractions’ territorial concentrations were emphasized in the communes from the south and northern OMA, but there are major territorial dysfunctions in terms of technical endowment and tourist infrastructure supply. The three emerged models refer to the medical–recreational and eco–residential wellness network, discovery eco-holiday, and co-visit and marginal community.

Water quality plays an important role for every sustainable social and economic system, as well as for maintaining human health. This study, carried out during 2022–2023, has as its main objective the physical–chemical and microbiological analysis of some underground water resources (two boreholes and a spring) with a natural mineral load from three areas in Bihor County (Romania), and the impact of their consumption on people’s health. Therefore, six microbiological parameters and 17 physical–chemical indicators in three localities (Tămășeu, Sîntimreu, Pădurea Neagră) were analyzed. The results of the microbiological analysis indicate a type of water that respects the limits imposed by the legislation on natural mineral waters and potability. The physical–chemical indicators show that the hydrochemical type of the studied waters is predominantly bicarbonate, in association with calcium, magnesium, and sodium cations. The residents’ perception on water quality and the effect on people’s health was assessed through a questionnaire (23 items) addressed to the population of the three villages and neighboring localities. The results showed that the mineral waters from Sîntimreu and Pădurea Neagră are used frequently. Many respondents consider the local mineral waters as without quality-related problems and with beneficial effects regarding acute or chronic gastrointestinal conditions, such as gastritis, gastric ulcers, flatulence, or liver diseases.

The present study analyzes the evolution of the divorces in Romania over the period 1992-2023, aiming to investigate the social, economic, and cultural factors that have shaped family behaviors and decisions regarding the dissolution of marriages. Using an approach based on official statistical data, the research explores significant differences between urban and rural areas, identifying divergent and convergent trends regarding divorce rates, influenced by modernization, urbanization, and economic crises. The study also examines the impact of economic migration and access to education on family behavior, highlighting how these elements have contributed to structural changes in marriages and divorces in different regions of the country. The analysis focuses on factors such as the age group of spouses, marriage duration, number of minor children, and the geographical structure of divorces, providing a deep understanding of the social dynamics and changes related to the stability of marital relationships. Another important aspect of the research is the evolution of the woman's role in marriage, influenced by increased economic independence and changes in the social perception of marriage. Additionally, regional disparities are discussed, varying depending on cultural traditions, urbanization level, and the economic development of counties, as well as common challenges faced by families in different areas of Romania. The study emphasizes the complexity of divorces, offering a comprehensive perspective on current and future trends, as well as the factors that influence marriage and divorce decisions, within a constantly changing social and economic context. The research conclusions will contribute to a deeper understanding of this dynamic phenomenon, as well as to the formulation of public policies better adapted to the contemporary realities of Romanian society.

This study analyses recent demographic trends in Romania, focusing on changes in the female population, especially women of childbearing age, as well as marriage and divorce rates at both national and local levels in Bihor County. The aim is to identify patterns of demographic behaviour and assess family stability through the dynamics of the marriage-to-divorce ratio. By examining these trends, we can highlight regional differences in demographic behaviour. The study employs an evolutionary and comparative analysis of demographic patterns in Romania, with a specific focus on Bihor County. Using official data from the National Institute of Statistics, it provides a descriptive analysis of trends and evaluates key factors influencing demographic stability and instability at both national and regional levels. Results indicate that, since 1990, Romania has increasingly aligned with Western demographic models, reflecting shifts in key indicators such as marriage, fertility and family stability.

This study examines the determinants of post-crisis tourism performance by comparing 207 Romanian tourist destinations in 2023, the first post-pandemic year, with their pre-pandemic performance in 2019. Grounded in Destination Competitiveness and Attractiveness Models, this study employs a negative binomial regression to analyse how recent investment projects, the expansion of accommodation capacity, and historical, pre-pandemic destination performance influence current tourist demand. Our results indicate that strong pre-pandemic tourism performance and strategic investments in tourist destinations are significant predictors of increased overnight stays, highlighting the role of pre-existing competitiveness in post-crisis tourism recovery. Accommodation capacity’s impact is more complex, as an expanding lodging supply raises overnight stays overall, but its effect differs sharply between regions. Ten additional accommodation establishments correspond to an estimated 34.9% increase in the north-east against 3.2% in the south-east region, and this contrast is statistically significant. Returns to capacity expansion, therefore, vary by an order of magnitude within a single country, challenging the assumption of a universal tourism development model and indicating that such returns depend on whether unmet demand exists locally. The findings support place-based, sustainable and resilience-oriented tourism policies that address regional disparities and direct investment where it can generate sustainable demand.

A nation's vitality, dynamism and economic strength will always be related to its demographic component, and a healthy and vigorous population will ensure its long-term future. However, the current realities demonstrate the existence of an obvious population decrement at the level of the entire country particularly triggered by the birth rate decrease and the high demographic aging to which other factors add ap specific to local communities, which in their turn determined a particular type of demographic behaviour. Therefore we aim to analyze those elements with a major population dynamics impact such as family stability and demographic potential that can generate a specific demographic behaviour, as a result of the major changes that have occurred in the last period of time. These elements are translated through several demographic indicators that characterize the family, such as the nuptiality index and the divorce index whose evolution was registered and analyzed for the period 1992-2021. Their evolution indicates the demographic potential of Romania, as well as of Bihor county.