Online marketing promotion of local tourism organizations: the analysis of the situation in Moravica administrative district

Modern information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, have caused many changes that influenced further development of the society, economy and tourism as their integrative part, and will do so in the future. Communication, that is the basis of every promotion, becomes more virtual, digital, online, but its purpose remains the same. Nowadays, even the tourist offer based on highly traditional values should be promoted in a modern way. The institutions of tourism at regional and local levels are much ―closer‖ to the specific product, and such closeness enables better knowledge and understanding. Modern trends in tourism promotion enable local products to reach world proportions and be represented globally. The aim of this paper is to determine the Internet promotion orientation of local tourism organizations from the Moravica administrative district, examine their presence on the Internet in terms of having the official website and social network accounts, and make a comparison between them.


Introduction
Online marketing promotion of local tourism organizations is largely based on the changes caused by information and communication technology development. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the novelties that technological solutions have brought into tourism promotion. GlobalData Technology (2018) states six trends to pay attention to in travel and tourism industry: -(1) Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR), (2) Artificial Intelligence (AI), (3) Internet of Things (IoT), (4) Voice technology, (5) Wi-Fi connectivity, and (6) Wearable devices‖. While we could ask the question -Virtual reality and tourism: fact or fantasy?‖ in the 1990s (Williams & Hobson, 1995), it is clear now that not only products of tourism are promoted in this way, but also tourism entered deep into the area of virtual tourism. In addition to the above-mentioned Virtual Reality, AI, chatbots and integration of the IoT, Newman (2018) emphasizes three main transformational trends in catering and tourism: -Mobile Integration, Focus on Data, and Reputation‖. We should also mention websites, blogs (as specific form of websites), email (mailing list registration included), social networks, Internet forums (discussion groups included), etc; in combination with Location Based Marketing -LBM, Mobile Marketing and electronic Word of mouth marketinge-WOM Marketing, they all form the foundation of modern approach to potential and existing customers market. In order to achieve success in modern business for all the subjects in tourism, local tourism organizations included, it is necessary to introduce new technologiesto change. Therefore, we should hold on to our tradition and features, but they should always be -refreshed‖ with the spirit of the time we live in. Local tourism organizations should provide thorough information on products offered in their territories, at the same time becoming much better acquainted with what they have available. Thus, the analysis of local tourism organizations is the starting point for determining the quality of tourism organization structure in a country such as Serbia, especially in the area of applicable promotion activities.
The subject of this paper is to determine promotion activity representation based on the Internet (websites and social networks) in local tourism organizations in the Moravica district territory. The aim of this paper is to determine the Internet promotion orientation of local tourism organizations from the Moravica administrative district, examine their presence on the Internet in terms of having the official website and social network accounts, and make a comparison between them. The official documents from local governments, districts and tourism organizations (strategies, plans, programs, reports, etc) which refer either completely or partly to the issues in question were used as a source of information about the orientation of local tourism promotion via the Internet. The data available on local tourism organizations' official websites and official accounts on social networks were used as a source of information about real presence of local tourism organizations on the Internet (websites and social networks which are actually in use).

Local tourism organizations online marketing
According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (2018, 14-30), 72.9% of households in Serbia have an Internet connection (mostly via mobile phones, Tablet or 3G network 67.5%), and the number has been on a steady rise in the previous ten years (since 2017 for 4.9%), while -96.4% of the population between the age of 16 and 24 have an account on social networks (Facebook, Twitter)‖ and 6.4% of people have ordered accommodation services (hotel) on the Internet in the last 12 months.
In the Tourism Development Strategy 2016-2025, the National Tourism Organization of Serbia -assumes the central role in tourism marketing system in the Republic of Serbia, the role of the mentor and active associate within the entire network of tourism organizations in the country‖ (The Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, 2016, 81), which can be at the provincial, regional as well as at the local level. According to that, one of the main activities of the Tourism Organization of Serbia to focus on is -to provide a unique information and communication system in tourism with the application of modern ICT tools‖ (The Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, 2016, 81). Therefore, one of the key requirements of well-designed and implemented local tourism organization marketing activities is cooperation with the tourism organization at the national level. On the other hand, local tourism organizations (often also known as -destination‖ -DMO), have the same importance as the national ones, and even greater when we speak of tourism products which are not singled out as -the main ones‖ by the national organization. The Tourism organization of Serbia and Pro Pozitiv agency (n. d.) research results (25th January -18th March 2016; a sample of 2005 respondents (17% of population), age 18 and over; territory: 51 municipality) confirmed the attitudes and habits of domestic tourists, including the information that the Internet sites are present in the third place according to usage frequency (16%) on destination information. Among the internet sites, local tourism organizations and sites promoting local tourism destination are in the first place according to usage frequency (40%), without neglecting the role of social networks (Facebook 19%).
In addition to the above-mentioned websites, local tourism organizations are also largely present on social networks.  (Luĉani municipality, 2015), leads to the conclusion that tourism promotion is mentioned, but modern technology based promotion is not mentioned. According to the Tourist organization of Luĉani municipality report for 2017 (Tourist organization of Luĉani municipality -Dragaĉevo‖, 2017), it is evident that -new website presentation was created‖ in April, as well as that the organization helped in the organization of an event in July, with -an advertizing campaign on social networks‖ among other things. The activity program and plan for 2018 (Tourist organization of Luĉani municipality -Dragaĉevo‖, 2017) states -appropriately promoted tourism offer‖ as one of the goals (specific goal 4), but specific modern forms of promotion are not mentioned.

Local tourism organizations in Moravica administrative district and online promotion orientation
The Sustainable Development Strategy for Ivanjica municipality 2009-2014 (Ivanjica municipality, 2009) was adopted in Ivanjica in December 2009, but a new strategy was not made afterwards. We can find parts related to tourism promotion within the strategy (Ivanjica municipality, 2009, 17, 18, 27, 29, 52), but its modern forms are not represented at all. The promotion is present in the Tourist Organization of Ivanjica Municipality Report for 2017 (Tourist Organization of Ivanjica Municipality, 2017) in the area of rural tourism featured in the Ivanjica TO website (among other forms), followed by the special part on marketing based on -electronic marketing‖ among other things. When we speak of modern forms of promotion, we should mention that -interactive showcase was on display in Ivanjica TO premises‖ in December 2009. There is a special part devoted to electronic marketing where regular website update is mentioned as well as the presence on social networks. In the Activity plan for 2018, a special part within the Marketing plan is devoted to electronic and Tourism development program 2012-2022, Inter-municipal partnership of Kraljevo, Raška, Vrnjaĉka Banja, Gornji Milanovac and Ĉaĉak, considers marketing as a constituent part of the mission (-...more efficient marketing...‖), but also as a special goal -2. Positioning of the tourist region on the domestic and international market with the authentic products of tourism‖, where we should emphasize sub-goal 2.2 marketing improvement and better usage of new technology advantages, mainly the Internet through: regional marketing system establishment and marketing strategy development, creation of clear and recognizable region identity, maximum usage of new technologies (the Internet, mobile applications) for promotion as well as sales. There is also centralized development and marketing management among the key factors of success. In the analysis of the Delivery of Quality Experience, we can notice that Marketing and Communication occupy a central place where, among other things, it is stated that -the Internet Usage Plan‖ is an important form of modern communication.

Research organization
there is the official website; (2) to evaluate the website quality (according to Giannopoulos & Mavragani, 2011& Garabinović & Papić, 2018b and compare them; (3) to establish whether there are accounts on chosen social networks according to a) website links and b) social network search, then their comparison; (4) data collection on social networks account activities in 2018 and their comparison. We should remark that the total number of posts also include the posts from other accounts shared through the local tourist organizations official accounts, which has little effect on the number of likes, shares and comments. The total number of likes and shares includes the likes and shares by the local tourist organizations themselves (other accounts). The total number of comments includes all posts, that is, all comments in correspondence (comments, responds to comments, etc, regardless of whether they come from the local tourist organization or some other person).

Results and discussion
When it comes to the official website analysis, it is determined that each of the four local tourist organizations in the Moravica district territory have one. The analysis has been conducted according to fifteen chosen criteria, and they are presented in table 1

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The connection of websites with accounts on social networks (table 2) is evident in all four local tourist organizations (100%). On the other hand, the search for the accounts on social networks showed a disagreement between website connection with social networks in three local tourist organizations (75%), the worst in the case of TO Ĉaĉak (50%, that is, 75% of links lead to the old YouTube account), while only in the case of TO Luĉani is there the complete connection of website links with social network accounts.   2019, Vol. 7, No. 1: 71-81. and the number of likes, shares and comments. The highest positive correlation can be noticed between the number of likes and shares (about 0. 928), likes and comments (about 0. 815), shares and comments (about 0.77), but also between the followers and likes (about 0.742), while significant negative correlation is present in relation to event announcement and posts (about -0.692), as well as event announcement and followers (-0.584). Facebook usage data is in Table 3.   Table 4.   Table  5.

Conclusion
Information and communication technologies, the Internet in the first place, represent one of the main components in modern promotion strategies. According to that, online marketing is a part of the Tourism Development Strategy in the Republic of Serbia 2016-2025, and it is one of the key trends in tourism. The activities in tourism in the four local governments of the Moravica district are based on the general strategic documents (for example, sustainable development strategy, etc), where tourism is mentioned, but not the promotion based on modern technologies (with the exception of the Tourism development program 2012-2022, Inter-municipal partnership of Kraljevo, Raška, Vrnjaĉka Banja, Gornji Milanovac and Ĉaĉak). The reports and plans of the local tourist organizations offer, on the other hand, short information about the analyzed form of marketing, whether within the promotion as a unity or as a separate part.
The contribution of this paper is in the analysis of the real characteristics of online promotion activities in local tourist organizations because they are significantly neglected in comparison to the ones at the national level. The main conclusion is that although all four tourist organizations have official websites, there is still enough room for their further improvement (unmet criteria). When we speak of social networks (all four local tourist organizations have accounts on all four social networks), it is necessary to enable better connection to websites (complete connection in only one; 25%), use them more since only 12/16 social network accounts are used (75%; 50% of tourist organizations used all four social networks), improve post quality since the number of shares (max. 2.26) and comments (max. 2; others <1) per post is extremely small, (the number of likes per post is slightly better, but not very largemaximum 55.97), which will potentially increase the number of followers (maximum number is 4911). We should still mention the improvement in the account number and usage on social networks compared to February 2018 (Papić et al., 2018, 45), and it is a good signal for further development.
The analysis of the strategic documents and the research conducted on websites and social networks usage in the local tourist organizations of the Moravica administrative district meet the subject and goal of this paper. The focus on the Moravica administrative district alone and the focus on some elements of online marketing (websites and social networks -Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) are the main restrictions to this paper, and therefore, in order to obtain more complete results, this research should be extended to local tourism organizations from other administrative districts in Serbia (but also in Europe and the world) and to other elements of online marketing, which will be the subject of further