             MIRELA MAZILU Department of Geography Social Sciences Faculty University of Craiova ROMANIA mirelamazilu2004@yahoo.com   The present stage of evolution of the human society is characterized by an unprecedented development of tourism, materialized in the inclusion of new and new regions in its range of capitalization. Therefore, not without reason, some researchers consider tourism as the most dynamic world industry of the 21/st century, which we have just entered only a decade ago. The first condition to develop leisure activities is the existence of attractive resources, the “raw material” which, by means of adequate planning, may become a proper supply. Apart from the attractions, an importance that should not be neglected is held by the position of the country compared to the general orientation of international tourism flows, the size of the domestic tourism market, the stage of economic and social development, the specialized infrastructure, the tradition of tourism activities, implementation of cluster policy, etc. The objective of this paper is to argue the importance of innovative clusters for the regional development having as example Romania. Many empirical studies emphasize a positive relationship between the cluster/like organization and the development extent at local or national level. The current article comprises a synthesis of these studies. On these grounds the formal clusters from Romania are analyzed in terms of their capacity to catalyze the regional development. The main conclusion of the work is that the Romanian economy does not have the experience of cooperation within a micro/economic network. The innovative clusters are very young and they have not demonstrated their growth potential. Sustainable development is a global and long/term challenge.  for tourism as for other industries has three independent aspects: economic, socio/cultural and environmental. Sustainable development implies permanence, which means that sustainable tourism requires the optimal use of resources (including biological diversity), minimizing the negative economic, socio/cultural and ecological impact, maximizing benefits of local communities, national economies and conservation of nature. As a consequence, sustainability also refers to the management structures needed to meet these goals.       should be subordinated to national and regional plans of economic and social development. Actions may cover for economic goals (income growth, diversification and integration of activities, control, development potentiating and zoning), social goals (poverty and income distribution inequality improvement, indigenous socio/cultural heritage protection, participation and involvement of local communities) or environmental goals (protection of tourism functions, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity). Some experts prefer to speak about sustainable tourism development rather than sustainable tourism, the first referring to all aspects of development, and the second to some aspects and components of tourism – such as long distance air transport that may easily not be sustainable under current technologies, even using the best practices. With respecting and promoting the principles of sustainable development, tourism is a means of protection, conservation and capitalization of the cultural, historical, architectural and folklore potential of countries. : “                            ”. (Porter, M. E. (1998) Clusters and the new economics of competitiveness. Harvard Business)  innovative cluster sustainable tourism, cluster theory, cluster benefits,  cluster, regional development, economic growth. Latest Advances in Biology, Environment and Ecology ISBN: 978-1-61804-097-8 59