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Sustainability
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Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism
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Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 38367

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. María Concepción Parra-Meroño

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Catholic University of Saint Antonio of Murcia, Av. de los Jerónimos, 135, 30107 Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain
Interests: consumer behavior; tourism marketing; smart cities; smart tourism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to invite you to submit your most recent research related to Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism for this exciting Special Issue.

Cultural heritage comes in many shapes and forms: tangible, intangible, natural and digital. It is important to preserve it, and pass it, on to future generations. You may think of heritage as being ‘from the past’ or static, but it actually evolves though our engagement with it.

2018 is The European Year of Cultural Heritage: “Throughout 2018, we will celebrate our diverse cultural heritage across Europe - at EU, national, regional and local level. The aim of the European Year of Cultural Heritage is to encourage more people to discover and engage with Europe's cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The slogan for the year is: Our heritage: where the past meets the future”. (https://europa.eu/cultural-heritage/about)

Nowadays, the establishment of technological solutions that support the dissemination and communication of the cultural heritage of a territory with its residents and visitors is fundamental. Although many large territories enjoy a very high cultural wealth, a lot of the cultural and historical heritage remains in small villages or regions.

In a time when technology is present in our both personal and leisure together with working lives, all territories should echo this and look for how to introduce ICT tools that help to increase the value of their culture and to be more accessible and interactive bases upon enabling true Smart Tourism Destination.

New digital services based on mobile technologies can now provide personalized, location-based, and context-aware information to tourism consumers, more over can also offer new opportunities to manage tourist flows, cultural heritage conservation and positive social change through enriched interactions with local residents.

Therefore, this Special Issue provides a forum to discuss and identify new trends and developments in mobile technologies and smart tourism development in the hospitality and tourism industry, with an emphasis on sustainability of the cultural heritage.

We invite researchers to submit original papers that include conceptual, empirical, analytical, or design-oriented approaches: Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Smart destination and cultural heritage
  • Digital co-creation channels to empower the cultural heritage
  • Interactive Tourism and cultural heritage
  • Sustainability of cultural heritage in smart destination
  • Smart tourism destination & cultural heritage: a new unexplored sector in smart cities develop
  • Marketing strategies of heritage cities as tourism destinations
  • Case studies of smart tourism
  • The impact of mobile technology on smart tourism development
  • Users of smart applications in hospitality and tourism
  • Sustainability opportunities and challenges in the context of smart tourism development

Prof. Dr. María Concepción Parra-Meroño
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6323 KiB  
Article
Augmented Reality Markerless Multi-Image Outdoor Tracking System for the Historical Buildings on Parliament Hill
by Silvia Blanco-Pons, Berta Carrión-Ruiz, Michelle Duong, Joshua Chartrand, Stephen Fai and José Luis Lerma
Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4268; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164268 - 7 Aug 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5128
Abstract
Augmented Reality (AR) applications have experienced extraordinary growth recently, evolving into a well-established method for the dissemination and communication of content related to cultural heritage—including education. AR applications have been used in museums and gallery exhibitions and virtual reconstructions of historic interiors. However, [...] Read more.
Augmented Reality (AR) applications have experienced extraordinary growth recently, evolving into a well-established method for the dissemination and communication of content related to cultural heritage—including education. AR applications have been used in museums and gallery exhibitions and virtual reconstructions of historic interiors. However, the circumstances of an outdoor environment can be problematic. This paper presents a methodology to develop immersive AR applications based on the recognition of outdoor buildings. To demonstrate this methodology, a case study focused on the Parliament Buildings National Historic Site in Ottawa, Canada has been conducted. The site is currently undergoing a multiyear rehabilitation program that will make access to parts of this national monument inaccessible to the public. AR experiences, including simulated photo merging of historic and present content, are proposed as one tool that can enrich the Parliament Hill visit during the rehabilitation. Outdoor AR experiences are limited by factors, such as variable lighting (and shadows) conditions, caused by changes in the environment (objects height and orientation, obstructions, occlusions), the weather, and the time of day. This paper proposes a workflow to solve some of these issues from a multi-image tracking approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism)
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30 pages, 4927 KiB  
Article
Transforming Communication Channels to the Co-Creation and Diffusion of Intangible Heritage in Smart Tourism Destination: Creation and Testing in Ceutí (Spain)
by Andrea Gomez-Oliva, Joanna Alvarado-Uribe, Maria Concepcion Parra-Meroño and Antonio J. Jara
Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3848; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143848 - 15 Jul 2019
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 6290
Abstract
Creating smart tourism destinations requires innovative solutions which cover the main pillars of sustainability as sociocultural, environmental, and economic aspects, in order to spread the cultural heritage of these tourist destinations to their visitors. One of the most demanded approaches by the new [...] Read more.
Creating smart tourism destinations requires innovative solutions which cover the main pillars of sustainability as sociocultural, environmental, and economic aspects, in order to spread the cultural heritage of these tourist destinations to their visitors. One of the most demanded approaches by the new hyper-connected visitors is the expectation of plunging and becoming a short-term resident to receive a real experience during their visit. Therefore, the scope of this research covers the objective of designing an innovative communication channel between a visitor and a point of interest (POI), which in turn allows agile experiences to be built and provided and increases the dissemination of cultural heritage through new technologies, considering the real needs of the territories and the new digital visitors. In order to address these topics, this paper proposes an innovative and co-created progressive Web-App for visitors called Be Memories in order to spread the intangible heritage of a tourist destination, where the content is co-created by residents of the destination. The tool has been tested in Ceutí, a Spanish village with a high cultural value, which needs to be disseminated through new innovative tools. The trial was launched during local festivities of the village using an Internet of Things device, called a Smart Spot, to establish a communication channel between the visitor and POI. The results of the test were measured using Google Analytics, the reactions of Be Memories in social networks, and the acceptance of other cities and European committees. The results have concluded that Be Memories is able to enable a local experience via agile, fresh, and crowd-sourced content that people enjoy. This channel presents a complementary level of information with respect to official sources, documentaries, and local guide tours, at the same time enabling a mechanism to promote physical visits, walking tours, and cultural heritage via low-cost and sustainable infrastructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism)
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18 pages, 561 KiB  
Article
Empirical Study on Behavioral Intentions of Short-Term Rental Tenants—The Moderating Role of Past Experience
by Xiaoyi Chen, Sarah Cheah and Ao Shen
Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3404; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123404 - 20 Jun 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4234
Abstract
Existing sharing economy (SE) studies tend to focus on the nature of SEs, their business models, and impact. However, there are limited in-depth studies on what motivates consumers’ participation in sustainable SE context, particularly in short-term rentals involving safety risks arising from face-to-face [...] Read more.
Existing sharing economy (SE) studies tend to focus on the nature of SEs, their business models, and impact. However, there are limited in-depth studies on what motivates consumers’ participation in sustainable SE context, particularly in short-term rentals involving safety risks arising from face-to-face engagement with strangers while consuming the services. Applying the perceived value theory and extended theory of planned behavior, this study examines the relationships among consumers’ perceived value (gain versus loss), past experience, and behavioral intentions in sustainable consumption of short-term rentals offered on smart online matching platforms. Based on a survey of 421 Chinese consumers, our study has demonstrated that social appeal and economic appeal (gains) are positively related to behavioral intentions. Second, we establish that the relationship between perceived risk (loss) and behavioral intentions is inverted U-shaped, enriching the existing literature which has assumed a linear relationship. Finally, our study shows that past experience positively moderates the influence of social appeal on behavioral intentions. This suggests that, compared with consumers having little or no past experience, the positive relationship between social appeal and behavioral intentions is stronger for consumers having much past experience. On the other hand, past experience has no effect on the relationship between economic appeal and behavioral intentions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism)
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17 pages, 1041 KiB  
Article
ICT and the Sustainability of World Heritage Sites. Analysis of Senior Citizens’ Use of Tourism Apps
by Irene Ramos-Soler, Alba-María Martínez-Sala and Concepción Campillo-Alhama
Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3203; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113203 - 8 Jun 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 7170
Abstract
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and applications (apps) for tourists are key tools for the sustainability of World Cultural Heritage Sites (WCHS). Their integration into tourism marketing strategies poses challenges regarding the satisfaction of the expectations of the target stakeholders, particularly senior tourists, [...] Read more.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and applications (apps) for tourists are key tools for the sustainability of World Cultural Heritage Sites (WCHS). Their integration into tourism marketing strategies poses challenges regarding the satisfaction of the expectations of the target stakeholders, particularly senior tourists, people aged 60 and over. This paper adopts an exploratory and descriptive approach that combines qualitative techniques (focus groups), to study the use senior citizens make of ICT and tourism apps, with quantitative ones. In this sense, content analysis has been performed on a sample of tourism apps. The results reveal that ICT are essential tools for senior tourists and positively influence tourists’ final perception of the travel experience. The analysis of these mobile apps shows that they meet the expectations of senior tourists, who constitute a relevant generation for cultural tourism and are of special interest for the sustainability of WCHS. The configuration and development of these tools must be adapted to this generation, which we call Generation W. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism)
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18 pages, 2180 KiB  
Article
Web-Based Recommendation System for Smart Tourism: Multiagent Technology
by Raheleh Hassannia, Ali Vatankhah Barenji, Zhi Li and Habib Alipour
Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 323; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020323 - 10 Jan 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 13739
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to design and develop a recommended system based on agent and web technologies, which utilizes a hybrid recommendation filtering for the smart tourism industry. A hybrid recommendation system based on agent technology is designed by considering the [...] Read more.
The purpose of the study is to design and develop a recommended system based on agent and web technologies, which utilizes a hybrid recommendation filtering for the smart tourism industry. A hybrid recommendation system based on agent technology is designed by considering the online communication with other sectors in the tourism industry, such as the tourism supply chain, agency etc. However, online communication between the sectors via agents is designed and developed based on the contract net protocol. Furthermore, the design system is developed on the java agent development framework and implemented as a web application. Case study-based results considering two scenarios involving 100 customers illustrated that the proposed web application improves the rate of the recommendation for the customers. In the first scenario without disturbances, this rate was improved by 20% and the second scenario with disturbances yielded a 30% rate of acceptable recommendation. In addition, based on the second scenario, real time data communication on the system occurred, thus the proposed system supported real time data communication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Smart Tourism)
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