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.