Davincze Tours

The development of a network in rural tourism. The

coordination of the tourist activities carried out by the
network.

Davincze Tours: Saint Stephan Holiday © Davincze Tours

the touristic activity in the village was

Location
Sâncraiu, Cluj County
(57 km from Cluj-Napoca; on DN1
Cluj-Napoca-Oradea, from Huedin on
DN1R to Beliș)
growing, more and more families
joined the network. Currently, the
network comprises 40
accommodation units with a capacity
of 250 beds.

2. The organization of the rural

Description tourism network
The records and the organization of
1. The formation of the rural tourism
tourism activities is carried out by
network
Davincze Tours travel agency. The
The network was initiated by the
groups of tourists are received by the
owner of the Davincze Tours agency in
agency, which then arranges
2002. Initially, there were 15 families
accommodation and provides
who had larger houses in the village
recreational services based on
and who were willing to use 2-3
principles known to all network
rooms to accommodate tourists. As
members. The biggest challenge is the

pag. 69 IART Territories

distribution of tourists in
accommodation units. For all network
members to be happy, the rotation of
tourists principle is adopted (from one
end of the village to the other), each
guest house putting up, in turn, a
certain number of people. Knowing
the group size and the
accommodation period in advance,
agency representatives transmit the
tourists’ data to each accommodation
unit, the accommodation period, the
program and the menu to be served
to them.
Each accommodation unit in Sâncraiu
can also provide touristic services to
other tourists than the ones managed
by the network, however having the
obligation to notify the agency if they
can not provide travel services to
groups. The recreational programs
and activities offered to tourists are
created and coordinated by agency
representatives. They keep in touch
with all partners involved in
developing tourism products,
providing all information necessary to
conduct the leisure activities in
favorable conditions.
3. The main innovative tourism
products
The Grapes Ball is organized every
year in Sâncraiu, at the end of the
second week of October, on Saturday.
The event includes a parade of the
young people in the village: dressed in
traditional costumes and singing, the
boys and girls walk on every street of
the village. The retinue is
accompanied by a young man riding a
pag. 70 IART Territories
donkey, dressed in rags, who stops at
every street corner and invites the
people to the ball. The ball starts at 9
pm at the cultural center, whose roof
is adorned with fir-tree branches and
bunches of grapes. The boys and girls
in the retinue guard the ceiling until
midnight. During this time, if someone
wants to steal grapes and is caught, he
must pay. After midnight theft is
allowed and fun goes on until the
morning hours.
The Rosehip Festival is held annually in
the third weekend of October (this
year it is between October 19 - 21).
The rose plant is a characteristic of the
hilly areas situated at the foot of
Vladeasa Mountains, having multiple
uses. The festival involves the
participation in two major events:
firstly, tourists can be spectators or
contestants in the rosehip jam making
competition, and secondly, they
attend the Rosehip Ball, an event
involving the whole village.
The International Music and Folk
Dances Camp is organized every year
in the first week of August (the 2012
event runs from July 29 to August 5).
The participants are young people
from all around Europe, Canada, the
USA and other countries of the world,
eager to learn Hungarian music and
dances specific to Călata region.
Tourists can participate in dance and
folk music classes, and at the end of
the week they all take part in the
competition and in the closing ball.
Alongside these events, their packages
also include other recreational
activities.
 © Davincze Tours

pag. 71 IART Territories

Holiday programs include cultural and
recreational activities specific to
Easter and the New Year. Among the
activities included in the Easter
program is the egg dyeing, the mass
attendance or the watering of the
girls, and for the New Year activities
include the pig cutting and the pig
feast, sleigh rides, hot wine tasting
and participation in the New Year
dinner.
Programs for week-ends promote
natural attractions of the area,
including outdoor recreational
activities: trips, hikings, picnics, wagon
rides or the escalation of nearby
mountains.
4. Innovation at the marketing level
Innovative activities performed at this
level fall into two categories: the first
to promote the Sâncraiu village and
the geographical area of Călata, and
the second related to the instruments
used. The main concern of the agency
owner is to attract tourists to the
area. For this reason, at the national
and international fairs attended, he
does not promote individual
accommodation units in the village,
but the tourist destination (Sâncraiu)
and the recreational activities that can
be performed in the area. The
invitation to tourists is: Spend your
holidays in one of the most natural
traditional regions in Europe.
In terms of instruments used for
promotion, even if they can fall into
the category of traditional tools
(leaflets, own website, its presence on
various websites to promote tourist
pag. 72 IART Territories
destinations and reservations,
participation in fairs), the permanent
concern of agency representatives to
update and improve the content and
form of their presentation can be
noted. Since the target customer
segment consisted of Hungarian and
German tourists, its own website was
made only in Romanian, Hungarian
and German. Currently, the agency is
creating an English page to increase
visibility at an international level.
As for the fairs they are present at,
they try to make themselves noticed,
decorating their stalls with traditional
elements, specific to the area and the
culture in Sâncraiu.
Source
From the early 90s, folk dance camps
were organized in Sâncraiu, event that
attracted many visitors. There was no
form of tourism in the village, and Mr
Stefan Vincze identified the
opportunity to offer travel services in
Sâncraiu. In order to attract large
groups of tourists and to provide
appropriate services, the village has
developed a network of families
offering accommodation. This
network was from the very beginning
coordinated by Davincze Tours that,
besides organizing the network, also
developed tourism products and
promoted the village as a tourist
destination.
Collaborations with other firms
The touristic network in Sâncraiu
benefits from the support of the
townhall for organizing large events,
as well as for the maintenance of the
area. The placing of tourist road signs
in the village was also made possible
with the support of the townhall. The
network also collaborates with the
authorized domestic producers, who
provide various products and services
(food, handicrafts, presentation of
customs and traditions) that are
offered to tourists. Of course, in order
to attract tourists, Davincze Tours
works with tour operators and travel
agencies in the country and abroad.
Results obtained
The main evidence of networks’
success is the fact that they began 15
families, while at this moment they
are 40 families that are receiving
tourists in Sâncraiu. As the people
seen the success and the increasing
wealth of the families that entered
previously in the network, more and
more families wanted to be a
member.
Another evidence of success is the
fact that they are promoting together
the village as a tourist destination.
They support together the promotion
expenditures and all the expenditures
that are meant to bring tourists to the
village.
Attracting a large number of tourists
in the area is another evidence of the
success. The largest number of
tourists in the area was in 2007 and
2008, reaching 12,000-13,000 nights
pag. 73 IART Territories
per year, while in 2011, the village
recorded approximately 5,500 nights
per year.
As a result, most of the families
obtained the financial resources to
invest and to improve the quality of
their touristic services. This proves
they are satisfied about the results
and that they intend to continue to
offer good quality touristic services.
Lessons learned
According to the agency owner, a
successful tourism network depends
on:
• the existence of an area with
tourism potential (natural, cultural
and social) and ways to exploit it
• providing good quality services
• optimism, seriousness and the hard
work of all network members
Contact details
Name: Vincze Ștefan
Unit: Davincze Tours (travel agency)
Telephone: 004.0745.637.352
Email: davincze@clicknet.ro
Website:
http://www.davincze.ro
IART Territories page:
http://www.iartterritories.com/en/co
mpanies/romania/davincze-
tours/id/52