Marija Cimbaljević

Former Yugoslav national parks are going social?: An exploratory study on Facebook

Today, a large number of people use the Internet for a variety of purposes. There is a growing presence of social networks in different spheres of life. Consequently, the connection of national parks and social media has begun. In this way, the management of national parks is facilitated in general, because data from social media can be of great help. Communication with visitors of national parks, through social media, has great potential in protecting such areas, but also in providing a wealth of experience. Therefore, it is essential to constantly update and direct visitors to the official Facebook sites of national parks. In this paper, the presence and activity of national parks sites on Facebook, in Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) is explored with the aim to seek for common practices, good examples or pitfalls.

Going beyond the traditional destination competitiveness – reflections on a smart destination in the current research

ABSTRACT This paper reviews the literature on tourism destination competitiveness from different aspects, focusing on comparative and competitive advantages. Also, the paper highlights the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism destinations and their increasing impact on the achievement of destination competitiveness. Thanks to the wider application of ICTs in tourism, tourists nowadays are well informed and have access to global market which creates a new dynamic environment by creating a smart demand. Since smartness emphasizes on ICT-based tools, including smartness integration for value co-creation, it can increase and enhance destination competitiveness. In this regard, special emphasis is placed on exploring the core components of smartness and smart tourism destination.