THE ROLE OF AUGMENTED REALITY IN DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

The online business environment is constantly changing and the companies have to adapt and find new ways in which they can reach and understand their customers. The increased penetration of Internet, extensive use of social media and the development of new technologies can present both opportunities and threats. This paper aims at presenting how the current status of digital business environment impacts the marketing strategy and how the implementation of Augmented Reality (AR) can help companies overcome the current challenges and gain competitive advantage

IDENTIFYING TOURISTS INTERESTED IN ECO-CERTIFIED ACCOMMODATION UNITS FROM BRASOV, ROMANIA

<p><em>Ecolabels are key</em><em> instruments for a sustainable tourism development and implementation of environmental certification of tourist accommodation facilities and services. </em><em>The present paper aimes to analyze whether eco-certification is considered by tourists in the choice of accommodation in Romanian destinations. We have chosen as a case study the city of Brasov in order to evaluate if certification as a sustainability policy tool is needed for accommodation facilities. A survey was conducted among 940 tourists from the analyzed destination. </em><em>Data collected in the survey was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and several statistical methods have been used: descriptive analysis, crosstabs, Cluster Analysis. </em><em>T</em><em>he results of the research outline the necessity for Brasov’s accommodation managers to consider the eco-certification of their businesses. </em><em>However, since some tourists remain unaware regarding the existence</em><em> of tourism certification programs and far fewer understand their meaning, they would have to consider educating tourists with respect to the utility and scope of tourism ecolabels alongside efforts towards creating or adopting tourism ecolabeling programs.</em></p