Marketing management of properties in rural tourism

Tourism in rural areas is developing in the last decade and has a growing popularity among tourists. But still the marketing management is not appropriately aligned with the contemporary marketing practices and therefore the author stressed out strategies and practices that could be implemented into rural businesses. Also, the paper handles with the development of a marketing plan for a potential resort in south-west Bosnia and Herzegovina, so it combines the practical implementation followed by theoretical background. The field of marketing practices in rural tourism is not enough researched and the literature is not homogenous, therefore the author is trying to combine various strategies and practices that can be adequately used and implemented into the mentioned field. The research was conducted through analyzing existing successful resorts in rural areas, synthesizing their strategies and practices to better understand how they solved their problems. In addition to that, a special emphasize was put on communities were rural business are conducted, how they influence certain aspects of businesses. It is obvious that businesses in rural areas as resorts are too slowly shifting from traditional marketing practices to modern approaches (influenced by the development of information technologies). The lack of skilled marketers and bad relationships between businesses and communities are the main obstacles to a more efficient marketing management in rural properties. The results are more general, and should be considered as guidelines for rural businesses that are looking for a contemporary strategic planning that includes modern marketing tools and practices