Implementation of an Interactive Crowd-Enhanced Content Management System for Tourism Development

This paper investigated the role of interactive tourist mobile apps in tourism development. The researchers presented the e-Tracer application, which was developed taking into consideration the recent advantages in mobile computing, the importance of user-generated content and the needs of northern Greece and the lower Balkan countries. Apart from crowd-based content creation, a new generation of apps for tourism development may include additional components like serious games for tourists, map-based navigation systems and augmented/virtual reality applications, in order to offer memorable user experiences for tourists. An agile content management system design methodology was followed by taking into account the needs of alternative tourist destinations, small to medium sized real-world museums and driver rest areas located around highways which connect cross-country destinations in the lower Balkan countries and Turkey. This work positioned the role of interactive crowd-enhanced platforms for content management of tourist-related information in tourism development, economic growth and sustainability of the Egnatia motorway surrounding areas in Greece. Keywords: mobile computing, content management systems, recommender systems, serious games, virtual/augmented reality, tourism developmen

Moderating Role of Long-term Orientation on Augmented Reality Adoption

Recently, the tourism and hospitality industry is providing tourists with an enhanced experience via various cutting-edge technologies such as augmented reality (AR). In addition, there has been an increased interest on the effects of cultural traits on human behaviours. The aim of this paper is to examine how Long- and Short-term orientation moderates the relationship between experience economy provided by AR applications and users’ perceived value. Data were collected from 145 participants at Deoksugung Palace in Seoul, South Korea and 119 participants at An Post Museum, Dublin, Ireland. We found that South Korean tourists, who are representatives of long-term orientation culture in this study, put a high value on educational factors of AR applications, whereas Irish tourists, who are representative of short-term orientation culture, regard escapist experiences of AR applications highly

IMPROVING THE DEPENDABILITY OF DESTINATION RECOMMENDATIONS USING INFORMATION ON SOCIAL ASPECTS

Prior knowledge of the social aspects of prospective destinations can be very influential in making travel destination decisions, especially in instances where social concerns do exist about specific destinations. In this paper, we describe the implementation of an ontology-enabled Hybrid Destination Recommender System (HDRS) that leverages an ontological description of five specific social attributes of major Nigerian cities, and hybrid architecture of content-based and case-based filtering techniques to generate personalised top-n destination recommendations. An empirical usability test was conducted on the system, which revealed that the dependability of recommendations from Destination Recommender Systems (DRS) could be improved if the semantic representation of social attributes information of destinations is made a factor in the destination recommendation process

THE ROLE OF AUGMENTED REALITY IN DESTINATION BRANDING

Purpose – The goals of this study are to find out which factors contribute to AR applications generating satisfactory tourism experiences; analyze the impact of AR on destination brand communication; and examine whether the act of communicating the destination brand also increases satisfactory tourist experiences. Design – The research is based on a case study of an AR application that belongs to the city of Tarragona (Spain) that reproduces its main monuments dating from the Roman era. Methodology – The study includes one survey conducted on 150 participants (75 tourists, 75 residents) and 15 in-depth interviews with respondents who used the Imageen application. Approach – The analysis provides detailed information on the users’ experiences and opinions, highlighting the different variables that provide the most satisfactory tourist experiences. Findings – The study shows that the AR application creates highly satisfactory tourism experiences, although not extraordinary. The main contribution of this study has been to demonstrate that the AR application has the potential to communicate the destination brand. Originality of the research – This study provides knowledge on the AR role in constructing a destination brand and its relationship with the tourism experience. Particularly, the findings of this paper have significant implications for DMOs and their marketing and communication strategies

Methodology for the management technological innovation in tourist destinations

Technological innovation has changed tourism management and practice, and tourism has become one of the largest industries in the world. As a result, tourism authorities must increasingly bet on the development of technology to accommodate tourists’ new image and make them feel included in their destination. In this respect, there is an important effective management of technological innovation in tourist destinations. Therefore, through theoretical methods and statistical committee previously conducted research on this issue, in these research methods are lacking, so this work aims to propose a technological innovation management method for tourist resorts. Thus, we have an approach to managing technological innovation in tourism destinations, expanding and integrating the indicators to be considered, and proposing the scale to measure the indicators. All of these provide the right tools for this purpose and facilitate the development of smart travel destinations

Augmented Reality in Tourism – Research and Applications Overview

Augmented reality is a complex interdisciplinary field utilizing IT technologies in diverse areas such as medicine, education, architecture, industry, tourism and others, augmenting the real-time, real-world view with additional superimposed information in chosen format(s). The aim of this paper is to present an overview of both research and application aspects of using augmented reality technologies in tourism domain. While most research, and especially applications, are dealing with and developing visual-based augmented reality systems, there is a relevant amount of research discussing the utilization of other human senses such as tactioception and audioception, both being discussed within this work. A comprehensive literature analysis within this paper resulted with the identification, compilation and categorization of the key factors having the most relevant impact on the success of utilization of augmented technology in tourism domain

The Influence of Innovativeness on Revisit Intention: The Mediating Role of Word-of-Mouth in Augmented Reality for Tourism in Thailand

Purpose:  This study aims to identify the motivational factors that encourage travelers to adopt augmented reality (AR) applications when exploring tourism destinations and to investigate the mediating effects of personal word-of-mouth (WOM) on the relationships between innovativeness and revisit intention outcomes among travelers.   Theoretical framework:  This study developed a conceptual framework that determines travelers’ inclination to use AR applications at tourism destinations, based on three primary variables: Innovativeness, Word-of-Mouth and Revisit Intention.   Design/methodology/approach:  A sample size of 430 was collected through an online self-administered survey. The proposed model was subjected to analysis using the structural equation modeling to examine the mediator effect of Word-of-Mouth.   Findings:  The results of the study indicate that service innovation and technology innovation have a significant and direct impact on travelers' WOM communication regarding their intention to revisit tourist destinations that offer AR applications. The revisit intention towards AR-based tourism applications is indirectly influenced by service innovation as mediated by WOM.   Research, Practical & Social implications:  This current study enhances comprehension of the determinants that drive tourists to utilize AR applications at tourism destinations by integrating established theoretical frameworks and adapting them to the specific context of tourism.   Originality/value:  As prior studies focused on the post-experience aspects of AR adoption, the motivations of travelers to reconsider their intention to use ART in Thailand remained unclear. Insufficient comprehension of tourists' inclination to revisit and utilize AR in Thailand’s tourism destinations may result in the failure of these destinations to attract new or returning visitors, ultimately leading to a decline in revenue

from e-Heritage systems to Interpretive Archaeology Systems.

The principal purpose of this paper is to examine which research approaches are best suited for determining the requirements of the next generation of interactive interpretation support systems for cultural heritage site. We are optimistic that such systems if properly designed to exploit the potential of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs), can not only meet, but even exceed visitor-user expectations. The research framework proposed to achieve this ideal integrates insights from both Interpretive Archaeology and interpretive IS research. We call the application of ICT’s in systems for communicating cultural heritage information “e-Heritage Systems or e-HS. We define “Interpretive Archaeology Systems”(IAS) as a subclass of e-HS, the design of which is informed by hermeneutics and phenomenology, Therefore, the principal purpose of the paper is to promote a shift from e-HS to IAS. To illustrate the fruitfulness of our preferred approach for IAS requirements identification, we derive a set of criteria from our research philosophy and apply them to the evaluation of an existing e-HS: the ARCHEOGUIDE in Olympia.Information systems; Cultural heritage; Phenomenology; Interpretive Information Systems Research; Interpretive Archaeology; Hermeneutics; Interpretive Archaeology Systems;