Places of literary tourism in Romania. Case study: Borgo Pass and Bram Stoker’s Heritage

Abstract

Literary tourism is a form of cultural tourism, which capitalizes on the material and immaterial heritage in the field of literature, thus contributing to the promotion of places as tourist destinations. Such a place is Borgo Pass, located in Romania, in Bârgău Mountains, between Bistrița-Năsăud and Suceava counties, between Transylvania and Bucovina, which is mentioned in the novel Dracula, by the Irish writer Bram Stoker. Due to this fact, the authorities of Bistrița-Năsăud county decided in 1976 to build here a hotel-replica of the one imagined by Bram Stoker in the novel, in order to attract visitors. The hotel was completed in 1983, and its name was Tihuța Hotel. After 1990, the hotel was named Dracula Hotel-Castel, and became an important destination for Dracula tourism, along with Bran Castle, Sighișoara, Brașov, Poenari etc. The present study aims to highlight the evolution of the place occupied by Borgo Pass in Dracula tourism and its potential for literary tourism. The methodological approach was based on two major stages: consulting literature on literary tourism and Dracula tourism, and collection of field data, related to the tourism potential of the Borgo Pass.