Tourists are more active, experienced and picky, eager for new, unforgettable experiences tailored to their needs. Innovations are imperatives, especially in tourism where new ideas can be easily copied. What better solution could there be than to engage tourists in the creation of the tourist product of their dreams? The principles of co-creation, along with the appeal of humour in tourism are still under researched topics as well as rarely used in practice. Especially in the case of Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) in Croatia, publicly funded entities that do not create tourism products, yet are responsible for the valorisation of unmanaged tourism attractions. An exploratory study was carried out whose main contribution was to assess current practices of DMOs and their tendencies towards using humour and co-creation in their marketing agendas. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness of the benefits of applying those two concepts in the marketing activities of DMOs. A case study project, aimed at tourism attractions in the destination, to inspire DMOs is also presented.

KEY WORDS

co-creation, humour, tourism attractions, DMOs

CLASSIFICATION