Acta turistica nova, Vol. 6 No. 1, 2012.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
PROMOTION OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS – ADVERTISING AND (OR) PUBLIC RELATIONS?
Marinko Jakovljević
Sažetak
Efficient tourist destination management is based on a concept of destination marketing and marketing communication with guests. Organisations dealing with marketing management, including the promotion of tourist destinations – destination management organisations (DMOs) - employ all elements of the marketing mix. However, the most important role in promotion is played by advertising, as one-way communication, and public relations, as two-way communication between a destination and potential visitors. The majority of budget funds of destination management organisations are spent on these communication instruments. In Croatia, promotion at destination level is carried out by a system of tourist boards at the local, regional and national levels. A survey on promotion management, that is, on advertising and public relations management, carried out in 20 regional tourist boards and the Zagreb city organisation, as well as in the Croatian National Tourist Board, which is the umbrella national organisation, showed that advertising and public relations are the most frequently used promotion strategies. This paper compares the impact of advertising and public relations, in the first place relations with the media. It is estimated that public relations are more efficient and more cost-effective than advertising, while advertising, on the other hand, makes it possible to send the desired messages to buyers without the risk of undesired results. The conclusion is that both communication techniques have an excellent synergistic effect and successfully complement each other. Although tourist workers prefer advertising when promoting a destination, the plain fact is that public relations are used more often and to a larger extent. The results of the survey show that public relations are a leading strategy in promotion which has not been sufficiently recognised, even though this strategy is already used to a significant extent. In the author’s opinion, there is great potential for the further development and improvement of the promotion of tourist destinations.
Ključne riječi
promotion; public relations; advertising; tourist destination; marketing; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
107155
URI
Datum izdavanja:
12.4.2012.
Posjeta: 10.933 *