URBAN TOURISM AND ONLINE MARKETING OF EMERGING TOURISM DESTINATIONS

In today competitive tourism market, with the rise of the web 2.0 era, destinations have shifted their focus from the traditional means of promotion to the online process. This study examined the online marketing of 10 Romanian cities as emerging destinations for cultural tourism based on the content analysis of website content. Using Google search to select tourism websites for analysis and applying eMICA model, a review of 200 websites was made, so as to understand how each city is promoting its image and products online. The results show that only some of the analyzed cities have official tourism websites and quite frequently, they lack interactivity, which is currently seen as a must for any successful destination. Main areas for improvement regarding the online promotion of the Romanian cities are suggested.