Journal of Business Paradigms Vol 4 No 2, 2019 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FACEBOOK IN DESTINATION MARKETING: THE CASE OF DUBROVNIK-NERETVA COUNTY Lorena Bašan1 Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Croatia Matea Ban Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Croatia Review Manuscript Received October 20th 2019 Manuscript Accepted December 25th 2019 ABSTRACT Since the emergence and rapid development of the Internet and its implementation in companies within the tourism and hospitality industry, Internet marketing has become a vital marketing tool. Social media, in particular, are one of the most important media in Internet communication and an integral part of a large number of business entities, including those related to tourism. Many tourist destinations that understand the importance of social media as a source of information in the phase of tourist-destination selection and recognise the opportunities social media provide are using social networks to communicate and interact with tourists. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to determine the implementation level of Facebook as the most often used networking site in destination marketing. The paper is based on empirical research conducted in Dubrovnik-Neretva County using content analysis. Results obtained by this study allow decision makers in destination marketing to implement Facebook in a more efficient way, by exploiting the underutilized advantages of social media to gain a competitive advantage in the contemporary tourist market and achieve better business results in the future. 1 Address correspondence to Lorena Bašan Associate Professor, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Department of Marketing, Opatija, Croatia, E-mail:
[email protected] 46 The Implementation Of Facebook In Destination Marketing Bašan L., Ban M.