Eïperience of the Băile-Felix tourist system (Romania) for the protection and promotion of the grey seal as a brend on the hel peninsular (Poland)

Abstract

The Pârâul Peţea Nature Reserve, localized in Bihor County (Romania), in the area of the Băile Felix rural tourist system, gained international interest and a regime of protected area due to the existence of an ecosystem with thermal waters, being also the habitat of certain rare fauna species (Scardinius racovitzai, Melanopsis parreyssi) and especially flora species amongst which the tertiary relict unique lotus flower Nymphaea lotus var. thermalis. Situated at the seashore of Hel Peninsula, Gulf of Gdansk, Baltic Sea, the Hel Marine Station (HMS), thanks to the project to restore grey seals to the Polish waters, has been one of the most interesting tourist attractions in the Baltic region. Using specific analysis methods and instruments, through monitoring over a period of several years and by creating a complex data base, the authors created conditions for a systemic analytical endeavour focused on the actual condition of the elements which allow to compare these tourist destinations and find similarities between natural attractivness of both places. At brand level, the lotus flower as well as the grey seal has been situated, ever since their appearance, at the basis of both resorts' development, being found in the local, national and international collective mentality and in the iconography of a number of institutions. Identification of the causes which led to the almost total extinction of rare species, redefinition of the degree of knowledge and awareness of their value in the local mentality, the actual place occupied by the reservations and their elements in the promotion and rebranding actions represent the approach directions which compose the basic structure of this scientific endeavor.