Digital Communication: Convenience or necessity of modern tourism?

Abstract

The paper deals with the role of digital communication in the tourism sector. The aim is to determine whether the use of digital communications is only an available opportunity or a necessity imposed by a new generation of travelers (the so-called Millennials and Generation Z) and new circumstances coused by the coronavirus pandemic. Communication and today digital communication are an important aspect of our lives. People use the Internet to do business, socialize, inform, share their impressions, to shop. The way people travel is changing as well. They look for information about touristic destination and products online, assess impressions of those who have already visited destinations or happenings and stayed in specific accommodation. Then they book transportation and accommodation on-line via websites and platforms. The tourism sector is information intensive and this is why digital communication is important for this sector. Some quickly got used to the new reality and began to use all the opportunities provided by the new digital technology, while some found it harder to accept. Until the beginning of 2020. tourism become one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the world, and steady growth would certainly continue but corona virus pandemic happened and everything has stopped. The corona virus pandemic has set new requirements for the tourism sector and is already dictating new ways of doing business. Through various statistical and other data used in the paper, we will see that at the beginning the usage of digital technology and digital communication in the tourism sector was something that existed as a possibility but today this is a necessity of modern business.