The Role of Public Relations in Promoting Sustainable Tourism in the Adriatic

Odnosi s javnošću su jedan od najvažnijih sastavnica promocije u turizmu. Ovaj rad će se bazirati na odnosima s javnošću u turizmu, prikazati koncept održivog turizma te sve zajedno povezati u cjelinu. Cilj ovog rada je bilo istražiti koja je uloga odnosa s javnošću u promicanju održivog turizma na području Republike Hrvatske, odnosno priobalja. Također, istražiti i na koji način dionici turističkog sektora koriste alate i tehnike odnosa s javnošću da bi došli do ciljane publike, prikazati potencijalne opcije za poboljšanje trenutne situacije odnosa s javnošću na području održivog turizma te istražiti koje komunikacijske kanale koristr prilikom vlastite promocije i koliko često su pojmovi održivog turizma uključeni u njihove objave. Odabran je uzorak od sedam ispitanika iz različitih pozadina turističkog sektora, javnog te privatnog. Na temelju istraživanja utvrđeno je kako su odnosi s javnošću prepoznati kao važan segment održivog turizma, no utvrđeno je kako isti nisu dovoljno zastupljeni. Potrebno je dodatno ulagati u navedenu profesiju, otvoriti posebne odjele koji bi se bavili isključivo odnosima s javnošću, budući da je jedan od ispostavljenih problema i prevelika zasićenost djelatnika drugim dodatnim poslovima. Utvrđeno je i kako su najčešći kanali promocije u turizmu upravo online kanali, s naglaskom na društvene medije. Dvosmjerna komunikacija je jedna od ključnih aspekata odnosa s javnošću, kako bi se prenijela poruka targetiranoj skupini potencijalnih turista.Public relations are one of the most important components of promotion in tourism. This master's thesis will be based on public relations in tourism, it will present the concept of sustainable tourism and connect everything together. The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of public relations in the promotion of sustainable tourism in the Republic of Croatia, more precisely on the coast. Another aim was to explore how tourism sector stakeholders use public relations tools and techniques to reach their target audience, show potential options for improving the current public relations situation in the field of sustainable tourism, and explore which communication channels they use in their own promotion and how often the notions of sustainable tourism are included in their publications. A sample of seven interviewees from different backgrounds of the tourism sector, public and private, was selected. Based on the research, it was found that public relations were recognized as an important segment of sustainable tourism, but it was also established that they are not sufficiently represented. It is necessary to additionally invest in this profession, to open special departments that would deal exclusively with public relations, since one of the problems is the excessive saturation of employees with other additional jobs. It was also determined that the most common channels of promotion in tourism are online channels, with an emphasis on social media. Two-way communication is one of the key aspects of public relations, in order to convey the message to the target group of potential tourists