EFFICIENCY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CROATIAN TOURISM

Abstract

Each day there are new tools and methods that enable business performance to be more efficient, and lead to higher business profitability in the tourism industry. Because of the dynamic and uncertain environment, management of travel agencies has changed, forcing them to adapt, accept new challenges and find new opportunities. Tourism in Croatia makes an extremely large part of the national product, and it is of major importance for Croatian economy. It is necessary to continuously monitor and evaluate the existing tourist offer. By entering the global market, entrepreneurs have an opportunity to easily and quickly get acquainted with the quality, price and competitor’s’ offer, which opens the possibilities and provides guidance for organizing and perfecting their own offers. On the other hand, from the demand side, habits, needs and wishes are increasingly changing. Tourists want to be in touch with the whole world, to find out information about tourist destinations and access the offers quickly. Almost half of reservations in Croatia is done virtually, and the Internet together with social networks has pushed back the traditional means of finding travel offers. New Media, with the assistance of new information technologies, has made it possible for images, text, sounds, videos and other contents to be transferred at high speed across vast distances, and thus contributing to the overall promotion of tourism activities and producing a positive impact on the development of Croatian tourism and overall economy.