DIGITAL MEDIA, PERCEPTION AND THE SELECTION OF THE 2016 BEST EUROPEAN DESTINATION: THE CASE OF ZADAR

This paper examines how foreign tourists perceive the city of Zadar in the Republic of Croatia, which was selected the Best European Destination (BED) in 2016. Analysing the perception and identifying the images that tourists have about Zadar is significant as a tool of identifying strengths, weaknesses and potentials of Zadar in developing the destination's strong tourism image and identity. This article is based on the quantitative field research formed on a structured questionnaire applied to 250 foreign tourists who visited Zadar in May and June 2016. The data acquired by the research was processed by the methods of descriptive statistics, and followed up by content analysis of chosen sites and social media. According to the results, the destination of Zadar is characterized by some very strong images, which are natural attractions, culture and events, but also by some issues concerning the sustainability of the destination. Firstly, the results of the research are presented to the employees of the Zadar Tourist Board in order to present Zadar as the destination of tourists from all over the world as well as the overall Zadar's offer for tourists that can be easily accessed via social media; and further on also to other DMOs since measuring tourists' perceptions based in selection processes such as BED is significant for successfully developing and branding every destination.