DIGITAL TOURISM PROMOTION AND E-MAIL MARKETING

Purpose: The paper represents the importance of the Internet market with a focus on email marketing promotional tools by means of which, through using databases, business entities, hotel companies and tour operators, with direct or indirect promotion, reach existing and new consumers. The determination of positions and trends, as well as the efficiency of the email promotion, so-called newsletter, is reflected as a goal of the research which explores the attitudes of the youth consumer segment as propulsive future consumers. Design/methodology/approach: The research includes a theoretical review combined with presentation of chosen international practices that support the theory of an innovative marketing approach. The research also includes quantitative as well as qualitative methods which explore the attitudes of tourist demand through 153 questionnaires conducted in December 2017 processed by statistical methodology including chi-squared test, average values, ranking technique combined with creative thinking techniques and other scientific methods (January 2018). The total number of questionnaires was 175, 22 forms were invalid which presents response rate of 87,4%. Youth consumers were randomly chosen, and the location of the research was the town of Pula, Croatia. Findings: Development of information technology and innovations has initiated new business processes in the tourism and hospitality business, as well as radical changes in business and communication with consumers, but also with other business entities. Special offers and promotions communicated through e-mail marketing boost demand and interest and result in customer purchases. The consumer group had to be analysed in respect of gender differences in order to conduct a successful e-mail promotion. Research/practical implications: E-Mail marketing gives hotels the opportunity to reach many potential customers and it is based on data collected from website viewers which is translated into personalised emails about information they were just viewing on the website. The paper provides a deeper insight and enables companies to improve the results of e-mail marketing campaigns. Further research in the field of gender focus areas should be conducted together with an analysis of sending frequency combined with efficiency, as this has been recognised as a challenging issue. Originality/value: This paper is a valuable contribution to existing research on how companies could reach new competitiveness by implementation of innovative E-marketing tools and strategies. The research also points to the importance of creative thinking focused on design of services in order to attract new demand and to communicate with different segments of potential consumers.