The Impact of Social Media Presence on Tourism Destination Competitiveness The Case of Serbia and Defined Competitiveness Set

The emergence of the Internet and new technologies application is noticeable in all business areas today. New technologies, if properly implemented, can
significantly improve the user experience because they ensure the availability of information when the user needs it. The use of the Internet and new technologies leads to easier comparison of alternatives and decision-making while reducing time and energy costs. On the other hand, from the company’s point of view, the Internet and new technologies bring many new challenges. Companies should monitor the changes that occur and appropriately react to them. The popularity of different platforms is reflected in the constant increase in the number of active users on them. Social media presents new ways of promoting tourism destinations and tourism products. Nowadays social media have a crucial role in encouraging tourists to visit a tourist destination. Consequently, NTOs actively use the advantages of social media in the promotion of tourism destinations. The aim of this paper is to analyze the competitiveness of Serbia and selected countries of the competitive set from the point of view of their presence on different platforms and social media. For the purposes of the research, a set of competitor countries was selected, and defined as competitors to Serbia as a tourism destination. The countries were defined within the Republic of Serbia’s Tourism Development Strategy for the period 2019-2025. The analysis included the presence of national tourism organizations (NTO) on social networks and platforms and was compared with the tourist arrivals and overnight stays of domestic and foreign tourists.