ABSTRACT
Public relations (PR) activities are considered as one of the most cost-effective promotional tools of the tourism and hospitality industry, and activities which build and maintain reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencinis the opinions and behaviour of the tourists/customers. Compared to paid advertisements and other promotional tools, PR consists of more diverse tools that can be effectively used to manage both favourable and unfavourable situations faced by an organization. Also, PR has an ability to build credibility and trustworthiness in the information the tourists receive, since it come though third-party endorsements. Nevertheless, organizations do not fully utilize their PR capacity to promote their offerings. For example, crisis situations cannot be manged effectively through paid commercial sources, but PR can handle them effectively. However, PR activities are not successfully used in the entire hospitality industry, especially in large state organizations like National Tourism Organizations (NTOs).
