Cultural heritage, tourist attractiveness and augmented reality: insights from Italy

ABSTRACT

In recent years, cutting-edge information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been implemented at different scales in order to improve tourists’ experiences of cultural heritage. In particular, advanced technologies combining augmented reality can offer a deeply immersive visitor’s experience aiming both at providing multifaceted information about the site and enhancing the attractiveness of a tourist destination at the different scales. Thus, the study aims at critically scrutinising the intersection of AR and tourist practices through the analysis of tourism destination stakeholders’ perceived value of AR solutions. The aim is to understand how it is crucial to take into account stakeholders’ perceptions about cutting-edge technology development, apart from providing practical implications for industry practitioners and local institutional actors.

From the methodological standpoint, the article is based on a multi-method approach encompassing field-work observation, in addition to a stakeholder and case study approach, aiming at evaluating internal and external stakeholders’ perceived value through a qualitative perspective based on semi-structured interviews with institutional actors, entrepreneurs, visitors and local community representatives. The results suggested some critical reflections about the inherent elusiveness of technological innovation in the case it is not incorporated in a long-term sustainable vision.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital innovation
• AR applications
• smart tourist experience
• cultural heritage
• Syracuse
• Italy

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge V. Raffaelli (Executive Manager of Smart Cities Living Lab), G. Di Guardo (Innovation Office of Syracuse’ municipality) for their support during the data collection phase and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the paper. A special thanks to Editor Dallen J. Timothy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Teresa Graziano, Phd in Geography (University of Catania, Italy, 2009) and in Territory and Environmental Science (University of Sassari, Italy, 2017), is currently working as a tenure track Lecturer in Economic and Political Geography at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania (Italy). Her main research interests include the socio-economic implications of urban renewal and gentrification, in addition to the impact of new smart technologies on urban fabric, territorial imageries and tourist practices.

Donatella Privitera is a full Professor of Geography at University of Catania (Italy). She attended an Executive Master in Agri-Business at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. At present, she is teaching economic geography and implications with tourism and regional development. Research and publication interests include tourism geography; sustainable cities; green economy; e-tourism; transport geography. In these fields, she published many scientific contributions. She is involved in several research projects in public and private sectors.