Abstract. The multitude of tourism products, “constructed” with a basis containing the resources of a tourism destination, on the one hand, and from the anticipation of the tourists’ needs and desires, on the other hand, is “hosted” in a complex space, which transcends the spatial and temporal coordinates. Therefore, it is necessary that the marketing specialists know and subsequenty use the components of the “destination’s universe” in the laborious process of constructing tourism products with specific, authentic elements, constituting points of contact between the targeted consumer segments and the nature and culture of the destination itself. The purpose of this paper is to identify, within a quantitative research, those specific elements of the region which can “collaborate” on developing every structured tourism product, comprising both tangible and intangible elements, functional and symbolic, which can be offered to as many market segments as possible, through planned activities of destination marketing, yet entirely complying with its identity.

Keywords: destination; touristic identity; authenticity; Oltenia.