Publisher: Institute for social research in Zagreb
Journal: Sociology and Space, Vol. 62, No. 2 (230), 2024, pp. 369-392
Year: 2008
ISSN 1846-5226 (print)
ISSN 1849-0387 (online)
DOI: 10.5673/sip.62.2.7,
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
