Analysis And Possibilities Of Online Promotion Of Tourism Of Eastern Croatia

Tourism can be viewed as an aggregator of economic activities and is thus an important factor in fostering the economy throughout the Republic of Croatia, including Eastern Croatia. The potential of Eastern Croatia as a tourist destination is noticeable in the increasing number of visitors and the range of events through which tourism businesses offer their products and services. In this way, tourism becomes the generator of product sales and exports. To increase the number of visits, this region should be more intensively promoted on the European and world markets. This is quite feasible with proper investment in high-quality marketing promotion on the Internet, which would significantly improve the position of Eastern Croatia in the online environment. Online advertising has been gaining importance because of the growing number of Internet users and constant technology improvements. The tourism sector in Eastern Croatia should strive to expand the range of tourism products, reduce seasonality, improve customer satisfaction, increase the average daily spending, raise the employment and self-employment rates, and probably most urgently, make the region an internationally recognized destination. Marketing activities are essential for accessing the domestic and international markets. By applying Web 2.0. techniques and tools, tourism businesses can pinpoint the segment they want to attract, and then use social networks, e-mail marketing and/or browser advertising to deliver the information on the destination and tourism offer. The paper will investigate to what extent business entities have recognized the importance of online promotion. The goal of the paper is to analyse the current situation regarding the presentation of Eastern Croatia on the Internet and to explore the potentials of this type of advertising. This is important, in view of increasingly active Internet users who require this kind of communication and prefer this route of obtaining information.