Marketing Application Of Social Networks In Tourism

Tourism is the most powerful initiator of activities in Croatia and one of the strongest in the world. Despite the worldwide crises, the number of tourists is increasing every year and the competition among tourism entrepreneurs is getting tougher. There is a constant struggle for every guestroom among destinations and hotels. Though quality offer used to be crucial, now the situation has changed. Marketing activities took over. The most important rule of marketing is information placement (in this case, the tourist off er). Therefore, traditional advertising models that have prevailed so far, cease to be important. Internet and social networks took the leading role which brought the revolution in marketing activities. Tourism is certainly one of the economic activities where the use of social networks has greatest success potential. Sharing photos, status, location and tips is interesting and fun, and entertainment and leisure is one of the main reasons for being on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other platforms. Through this interesting contents on social networks tourism subjects or destinations can increase visibility and define destination brands, attract new guests who will then with one click attract new potential guests and thus increase the revenue. The purpose of this study is to point out the extremely low level of knowledge and application of Internet and social networks for promotion and placement of tourism and catering companies and destinations in Croatia.