Possibilities of applying digital marketing in special forms of tourism: profiles of hunting tourism tourists in the Republic of Croatia

Nova era marketinške komunikacije je već počela i digitalni marketing je važan dio poslovanja u svim segmentima turizma, pa tako i u lovnom turizmu. Društvene mreţe i digitalni marketing promijenili su način komunikacije i način upravljanja turističkim destinacijama te je sve više lovnih klijenata koji koriste digitalne alate prilikom odabira turističke destinacije. Lovni turizam je izuzetno značajna grana turizma, a u Hrvatsku lovni klijenti dolaze kako zbog prirodnih ljepota, tako i zbog povoljnog geoprometnog položaja. U kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske potiče razvoj destinacije i produljuje turističku sezonu sa ljetnih mjeseci na cjelogodišnji turizam. Lov ne predstavlja samo odstrel divljači, nego brigu o životinjama i održivo gospodarenje propisano Zakonom o lovstvu. Provedenim istraživanjem analizirale su se mogućnosti primjene digitalnog marketinga te profil turista lovnog turizma u Hrvatskoj. Ustanovljeno je da lovni klijenti u velikoj mjeri koriste društvene mreţe te da provode na njima 2,4 sati dnevno. Prije početka lovnog aranžmana pretražuju web-stranice i interesiraju se o lovištima putem društvenih mreža, posebice Facebooka, YouTube i Instagrama. Lovni klijenti smatraju informacije dobivene putem društvenih mreža izuzetno pouzdanima. Prilikom procjene važnosti navedenih elemenata za informiranje ispitanici su najvišu ocjenu dali preporuci stručnjaka ili lovca. Prilikom boravka u nekoj lovnoj destinaciji najveću prednost su dali Facebook društvenoj mreži. Prema gore prikazanim podacima, turisti lovci aktivno koriste društvene mreže, provode vrijeme na njima i od njih se oslanjaju za informacije, ali su i zadovoljni informacijama dobivenim putem društvenih mreţa. Kao rezultat toga, postoje jasne i utemeljene indikacije da društvene mreže utječu na izbor destinacije za lov.The new era of marketing communications has already begun, and digital marketing is an important part of business in all segments of tourism, including hunting tourism. Social networks and digital marketing have changed the way of communication and the way of managing tourist destinations, and there are more and more clients who use digital tools when choosing a tourist destination. Hunting tourism is an extremely important branch of tourism, and hunting clients come to Croatia both because of its natural beauty and because of its favorable geographic location. In the continental part of Croatia, it promotes the development of the destination and extends the tourist season from the summer months to year-round tourism. Hunting is not only the killing of game but also the care of animals and sustainable management prescribed by the Hunting Act. The conducted research analyzed the possibilities of applying digital marketing to the profile of hunting tourism tourists in Croatia. It was established that hunting clients use social networks to a large extent and that they spend 2.4 hours a day on them. Before the start of the hunting arrangement, websites are searched and inquiries are made about hunts through social networks, especially Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Hunting clients consider information obtained via social networks extremely reliable. When evaluating the importance of the mentioned elements for information, the respondents gave the highest rating to the recommendation of an expert or a hunter. When staying in a hunting destination, they gave the Facebook social network the highest priority. According to the data presented above, tourist hunters actively use social networks, spend time on them, and rely on them for information, but they are also satisfied with the information obtained through social networks. As a result, there is adequate evidence that social media influences the choice of hunting destination