DIGITIZATION, A STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM

ABSTRACT

The development of sustainable tourism is a modern-day necessity recognized worldwide by specialized organizations, by workers in the field, and by tourists. This type of development has several stages and requires the involvement of national and local authorities, local population, employers and employees, tourists, all economic agents that are connected with tourism. The emergence of a health crisis, such as the one we are experiencing now, imposes certain measures that affect the tourist circulation, and in fact, the tourism sector. The Covid-19 pandemic managed to interrupt the upward trend in the number of internationally registered tourists and in the income obtained from tourism, as well as their decrease to the level of 2010. One of the measures that could contribute to the recovery of losses from tourism and the development of sustainable tourism would be digitization. Digitization is a process, a stage that must be achieved in the sustainable development of tourism. By implementing modern techniques, the work of the staff and the access of tourists to tourist services are facilitated, and that would lead to the recovery of the tourists' trust.