Creating tourist experiences by interpreting places using digital guides

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between technology and narrative in digital guides for tourists in Sweden. The main finding shows that narratives in the guides are based on a naïve view of history. In several instances, content is based on odd stories and speculation. Recent social trends have led to the erosion of grand narratives and the emergence of multiple views of history. New digital guides must address these challenges in order to develop tourism products that are relevant to different market segments.

Keywords:

• formation of narratives
• discursive struggle
• authenticity
• interpretation
• survey of digital guides

Notes on contributors

Magnus Karl Bohlin did his undergraduate and PhD work at Uppsala University, Sweden and also holds an MA degree in Geography from the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Bohlin is among the founding fathers of the tourism education and research at HögskolanDalarna, Sweden where he is now a professor. As the first president of the European Chapter of TTRA, he has also served on the board of TTRA International. His research interest has to a large part dealt with heritage in various forms. Via geographic information systems and studies of historic maps, developing electronic guides is now a major interest.

Daniel Lars Brandt works as an assistant professor in Human Geography at Dalarna University, Sweden. He carried out his undergraduate studies at Umeå University in the field of history. His PhD work was done at Örebro University. In his PhD thesis, he used geographic information systems (GIS) for analysing changes in the Swedish state administration. His research has over the years dealt with various aspects of geographical change. In this work, he has been using GIS. The relationship between heritage, construction of narratives and GPS-based technology has attracted a lot of his attention lately.