CACTUS CACTUS J Tour Bus Manag Econ CACTUS – Journal of Tourism Business, Management and Economics 2247-3297 ASE Publishing House Bucharest, Romania 10.24818/CTS/3/2021/2.02 cactus-2021-12 Research Article D83, Z33 Are Romanian Tourism Companies Prepared For Digital Transformation? A Research Study In Timis County Musteață-Pavel Marioara https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3160-7350 pmioara@incdt.ro Surugiu Camelia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0393-4015 Lixăndroiu Cristina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6519-2398 The National Institute of Research and Development in Tourism, Romania University of Bucharest, Faculty of Business and Administration, Business Administration Department, Romania The National Institute of Research and Development in Tourism, Romania 15 12 2021 3 2 15122021 Copyright © 2021, The Author(s) 2021 The Author(s) This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Information and Communication Technology — ICT (i.e., computers and laptops, tablets, mobile phones, smartphones, software, audio-visual systems, wireless, VOIP, GIS, GPS, mobile app, analytical tools, augmented reality systems, holograms, virtual reality technologies) and ˗ mainly ˗ online information sources (multiplatform web pages, search engines, social media platforms) have changed how distribution, selling and consumption processes work. This also involved a revolution in how travel-related information is searched. Digital technologies have brought significant transformations to the tourism industry, significantly changing tourism business, products and destinations. The increase of digital platforms stimulated the variety and volume of tourism products, services and experiences. Nowadays, digital technologies are used as marketing tools by tourism companies, in order to boost efficiency and increase communication and awareness among visitors. The expansion of the Internet has supported the productivity of tourism-related applications and generated an opportunity for businesses to expand and attract more customers. Digitalization has changed the way tourist services are provided because customer expectations converge towards more digital solutions and tools. The present paper aims to investigate the online communication channels used by tourism organizations to promote businesses, products and services. The research was conducted in Timiș County, Romania, as a pilot study. The findings of the present paper provide valuable information regarding the limitation of digital marketing tools used by tourism companies and how to capitalize them as a strategic tool.

 Keywords Digital marketing tourism communication business promotion ICT

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