An Exploratory Study of Online Destination Images via User-Generated Content for Southeastern Rural Transylvania

Abstract

The advent of new technologies has brought forth an incredible power to online users of social media who may act as active contributors and co-creators of the tourism communication and promotion of the areas that have visited, influencing in that way the online image that is created for an area, a region or a country. The user-generated content (UGC) that is created and uploaded, text and/or travel photos allows research to examine tourists' behavior. How can this be depicted with the use of photos taken from visitors for a rural area? The present chapter aims to (a) examine the destination image of Brasov County's (Romania) based on UGC created via photos uploaded on Facebook by a selected group of visitors in the area; (b) to examine the projected image and strategy in official Brasov County's websites and strategic documents and (c) to create a set of recommendations for the promotion of the Brasov County's rural area on the international tourism market.