ENHANCING QUALITY BRAND OF TOURISM PRODUCTS USING NEW IT APPLICATION TOOLS

A prominent feature in the recent trends of the tourism industry is emerging in the global landscape. The new online application tools of Web 2.0 such as Site Web, social media and social networks are shifting the fundamentals in the way tourists are gaining information about destinations and services. This development significantly influences the strategic decision process of tourism firms and of international tourism organizations. Tourist actors must respond to this change by using marketing strategies tailored to the needs and wants of this new trend. The purpose of this paper is to analyze new determinant factors influencing quality brand of a tourism destination and product. Through the identification of those determinant factors emerges a contribution to theory development. A holistic quality brand model which incorporates technological tools in the implementation of brand quality in a tourism product or service is developed. Our conclusions suggest that firms in the tourism industry ought to understand the dimensions and the potential of Web 2.0 applications on marketing practice and business in general