Doing public participatory archaeology with “difficult” conflict heritage : Experiences from Finnish Lapland and the Scottish Highlands

Public participatory archaeology can take many forms, and there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to engaging with communities and non-professional enthusiasts. Similarly, not all archaeological heritage is the same, and some comes with the label of ‘difficult’, ‘contested’ or ‘dark’ heritage. Particularly, in this article I explore how archaeological heritage that is connected with periods of conflict, namely the Second World War, fares in the sphere of public archaeology. My case studies from Scotland and Finland also illustrate very different community heritage models, and I reflect on the role of the public archaeologist in these scenarios.Peer reviewe

Utilize XR as a sustainable service design for Nordic tourism

In the rapidly evolving field of tourism, integrating advanced technologies is crucial for promoting sustainable service design. This study investigates the transformative potential of Extended Reality XR technologies in enhancing sustainable and immersive tourist experiences. Combining service design principles with XR's immersive capabilities, it proposes novel frameworks to boost visitor engagement, environmental consciousness, and cultural preservation. An extensive literature review identifies existing knowledge gaps, which this research aims to fill through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, including user experience studies and environmental impact assessments. The findings highlight XR's role in encouraging eco-friendly tourism practices, reducing carbon footprints, and increasing cultural appreciation. Furthermore, the study offers actionable recommendations for industry stakeholders, advocating XR's integration into tourism services. Contributing both theoretical insights and practical strategies, this research underscores XR's significance in shaping future tourism experiences, promoting immersive, sustainable, and culturally rich services

Death, Dying and Dark Tourism in Contemporary Society: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Despite increasing academic and media attention paid to dark tourism – the act of travel to sites of death, disaster and the seemingly macabre – understanding of the concept remains limited, particularly from a consumption perspective. That is, the literature focuses primarily on the supply of dark tourism. Less attention, however, has been paid to the consumption of ‘dark’ touristic experiences and the mediation of such experiences in relation to modern-day mortality. This thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature. Drawing upon thanatological discourse – that is, the analysis of society’s perceptions of and reactions to death and dying – the research objective is to explore the potential of dark tourism as a means of contemplating mortality in (Western) societies. In so doing, the thesis appraises dark tourism consumption within society, especially within a context of contemporary perspectives of death and, consequently, offers an integrated theoretical and empirical critical analysis and interpretation of death-related travel. The study adopts a phenomenological approach and a multiple case studies design with integrative and complementary methods of covert participation observation, semi-structure interviews (n = 64) and survey research (n = 419), as well as a focus group and a diarist account. As a result, the thesis explores the fundamental interrelationships between visitors and sites that offer a representation of death. In particular, the research examines these relationships at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum & Memorial (Oświęcim, Poland), WTC Tribute Visitor Centre at Ground Zero (New York), Body Worlds exhibition at the O2 Arena (London), and the Dungeon visitor attractions (York and London). The research finds that in a contemporary secular age where ordinary and normal death is sequestered behind medical and professional façades, yet abnormal and extraordinary death is recreated for popular consumption, dark tourism plays a mediating role between life and death. Ultimately, therefore, the thesis argues that dark tourism is a (new) mediating institution within secularised death sequestered societies, which not only provides a physical place to link the living with the dead, but also allows the Self to construct contemporary meanings of mortality, and to reflect and contemplate both life and death through consuming the Significant Other Dead

Metaverse marketing: How the metaverse will shape the future of consumer research and practice

The initial hype and fanfare from the Meta Platforms view of how the metaverse could be brought to life has evolved into an ongoing discussion of not only the metaverse\u27s impact on users and organizations but also the societal and cultural implications of widespread usage. The potential of consumer interaction with brands within the metaverse has engendered significant debate within the marketing‐ focused discourse on the key challenges and transformative opportunities for marketers. Drawing on insights from expert contributors, this study examines the marketing implications of the hypothetical widespread adoption of the metaverse. We identify new research directions and propose a new framework offering valuable contributions for academia, practice, and policy makers. Our future research agenda culminates in a checklist for researchers which clarifies how the metaverse can be beneficial to digital marketing and advertising, branding, services, value creation, and consumer wellbeing

Virtual Reality Methods

ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Since the mid-2010s, virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced rapidly. This book explores the many opportunities that VR can offer for humanities and social sciences researchers. The book provides a user-friendly, non-technical methods guide to using ready-made VR content and 360° video as well as creating custom materials. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to using VR, providing helpful, real-world examples of how researchers have used the technology

Augmented Reality Experience for Inaccessible Areas in Museums

In recent years, new innovations have been introduced into the cultural heritage sector, aimed at offering more engaging and accessible tours to the public. The article discusses the development process of the VirgilTell project, for the visit of inaccessible places in the Racconigi Castle, one of the Savoy residences in Piedmont (Italy), by the UXD Team of Politecnico di Torino. The places assigned to the project are being restored and therefore excluded from the tour. The VirgilTell experience aims to include and make them accessible to visitors, through a virtual tour including multimedia content for the entertainment and involvement of the users. The visit has been realised through mixed techniques between VR and AR for the narration of the spaces in which the user takes part in a journey made of narratives by characters from the past and objects that no longer exist. The VirgilTell visit was also created with the aim of anticipating, in promotional terms, the physical visit to the museum spaces undergoing restoration, so as to attract visitors back inside once the work is finished

Tourism in contemporary cities. Proceedings of the International Tourism Studies Association Conference: University of Greenwich, London, UK 17–19 August 2016 Conference Proceedings

The 6th International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) Biennial conference was held at the University of Greenwich, London, England from 17‐19 August 2016. This was the first time that the conference had been held in Europe and it provided a unique opportunity to meet, hear from and network with tourism scholars and professionals from across Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North and South America. ITSA has a mission to encourage interaction and cooperation between developing and developed countries and the conference was successful in attracting 130 delegates from 29 countries. The main theme of the conference was 'Tourism in Contemporary Cities' with four conference sub‐themes of ‘Tourism Cities and Urban Tourism’, ‘The Chinese Market for European Tourism’, ‘River, Cruise and Maritime Tourism’, and ‘Heritage Tourism in Cities’, The subthemes were chosen to reflect the unique location of the conference on the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, and London which is Europe’s most visited tourist destination. The conference also presented ‘Dark Tourism and Cities’ and ‘Tourism and Communist Heritage’ as special sessions

2023 International Conference on Heritage and Affect

Conference ProgramNoAffective Architectures Lab aalab.org/2023conferenc