Public relations in the tourism sector. Interactivity and social features of the official tourism websites of Spanish sun and beach destinations

Public relations in the tourism sector. Interactivity and social features of the official tourism websites of Spanish sun and beach destinations内容摘要：

RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 72 – Pages 374 to 396 Funded Research | DOI: 10.4185/RLCS, 72-2017-1170| ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2017 How to cite this article in bibliographies / References A M Martínez-Sala, J Monserrat-Gauchi, C Campillo Alhama (2017): “The relational paradigm in the strategies used by destination marketing organizations. Interactivity and social roles in institutional tourist websites”. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 72, pp. 374 to 396. http://www.revistalatinacs.org/072paper/1170/20en.html DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-2017-1170 Public relations in the tourism sector. Interactivity and social features of the official tourism websites of Spanish sun and beach destinations Alba-María Martínez-Sala [CV] - Universidad de Alicante- albamaria.martinez@ua.es Juan Monserrat-Gauchi [CV] - Universidad de Alicante - juan.monserrat@ua.es Concepción Campillo Alhama [CV] - Universidad de Alicante - concepcion.campillo@ua.es Abstract Introduction and objectives. This articles presents the results of a study on the degree of interactivity of the official tourism websites of the main Spanish sun and beach destinations, given their importance in achieving a two-way communication. The study also evaluates key aspects related to social media and the social web, which are also necessary to achieve two-way communication and establish relationships with the public. Methods. The study is based on content and functional analysis of a series of indicators that provide descriptive information about the status of the official tourism websites and a score that allows for a comparative analysis among them. Results and conclusions. The results show significant shortcomings in the field of interactivity, but also an important development regarding social media and social web tools. The article ends with the proposal of a series of good practices that are necessary to implement to improve the relational aspects of tourism websites, which are essential tools in tourism marketing and communication. Keywords Official tourism website; relational marketing; interactivity; social media; social web; digital communication strategy Contents 1. Introduction. 2. The relational and collaborative approach to marketing and communication strategies. 3. Social web and interactivity. 4. Hypotheses, objectives and methods. 5. Results. 5.1. Results on interactivity. 5.2. Results on the social web and presence in social media. 6. Discussion and conclusions. 7. References. Translation by CA Martínez-Arcos (PhD in Communication, University of London) http://www.revistalatinacs.org/072paper/1170/20en.html Página 374 RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 72 – Pages 374 to 396 Funded Research | DOI: 10.4185/RLCS, 72-2017-1170| ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2017 1. Introduction One of the factors that has determined the evolution of tourism is the emergence of new media (Bonilla, 2013). Information and communication technologies [ICT] are increasingly used by people to plan trips and choose destinations due mainly to the large volume of information and opinions that are published on the Internet by other tourists (Prat, 2012: 240). The Internet has become an indispensable tool in the planning and development of travelling, as well as one of the main channels for the marketing of a destination (Caro, Luque & Zayas, 2015). The Internet and online marketing and communication channels are evolving quickly and appropriately, and are identifying very quickly the needs of the tourist 2.0 and of tourism 2.0 (Domínguez Vila & Araújo Vila, 2014). The tourist 2.0 refers to an informed and participatory traveller who no longer makes his travelling-related decisions based exclusively on the advice given by a travel agency (Suau Jiménez, 2012: 144). Instead, the new tourist takes into account all the information he collects from the Internet. It is precisely the need for information which has made websites a key instrument for the communication of tourism destinations (Fernández Cavia, Díaz-Luque, Huertas, Rovira, PedrazaJiménez, Sicily, Gómez & Míguez, 2013; Fernández-Cavia & Huertas-Roig, 2009; Díaz-Luque, 2009). Hallet & Kaplan-Weinger (2010), Lee & Gretzel (2012), Luna-Nevarez & Hyman (2012) and Morrison (2013) consider tourism websites as the main tool in destination selection and trip planning. In addition, in accordance with the new roles of the consumer as content producer and prescriber of products and services, recommendation systems, and the op