Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.62.2.7
Influence of Social Networks on the Choice of Cultural Tourism Destination. Case study of Novi Sad and Rijeka as European Capitals of Culture
Tatjana Pivac
orcid.org/0000-0002-1660-1295
; University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Serbia
Damir Demonja
orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-5137
; Institute for Development and International Relations, Department for International Economic and Political Relations, Zagreb, Croatia
Tamara Surla
orcid.org/0000-0002-5975-0506
; University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Serbia
Jovana Miljković
; University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Serbia
Abstract
The emergence of social networks has brought significant changes to the tourism
industry. Today, social networks are increasingly becoming alternatives to traditional media
in the process of travel planning and travel decisions. The purpose of this research is to examine
whether respondents believe that social networks facilitate communication and help
simplify the process of gathering information when choosing a cultural tourism destination, and whether they believe that the collected information is useful and relevant when choosing
a destination. Likewise, a principal component analysis of exploratory factors (EFA) was conducted
to identify social media factors that influence tourists' decisions on destination choice.
The questionnaire was conducted among visitors to Rijeka and Novi Sad, as cities with a rich
culture that were European Capitals of Culture in 2020 and 2022. A total of 208 citizens of
Croatia and Serbia participated in the research. The research indicated that the respondents
were partially satisfied with the information obtained on the official ECoC communication
channels and with the content that attracted them to visit these destinations. The biggest difference
was found regarding the source of information on social networks. The tourists who
visited Novi Sad largely used Instagram as a source of information, which was not the case with
visitors to Rijeka.
Keywords
social networks; cultural tourism; European Capitals of Culture; Rijeka; Novi Sad
Hrčak ID:
322194
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2024.
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