The Role of Information Technology in Promoting a Tourist Destination

Abstract

The image of a tourist destination is an important factor in the development of tourism in the territory. At the same time, it is obvious that promoting a tourist destination on the internet is the most promising and effective way, since the internet possesses a huge number of different tools to shape an image. The spread of the internet and digital media gave people unlimited access to information. These information sources, such as internet portals of various authorities and institutions, including the profiles of these organizations on social networks. Additionally, travel blogs began to play an important role in marketing tourist destinations. The rise of video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok has led to the rise of user-generated content (UGC). The UGC contained in travel blogs have become convenient and important reference materials for tourists, both before and during travel. However, at present, studies on the role of internet resources play in promoting the tourism to specific territories are few. This present study defines the role of internet resources, namely official tourist portals, as a source of information about tourist destinations, as well as the potential for their use as a means of promoting a territory and shaping the image of a tourist destination. Information resources on the Internet were studied, positioning the Rostov region as a tourist destination, as well as communities on social networks. It was found that there are problems in the promotion of information resources of the Rostov region. Recommendations have been proposed to improve the image of the tourist territory in the digital media environment.