Slow tourism, una oportunitat per a la transformació del turisme?

This essay-style article, aims to clarify some of the concepts with which the slow movement is expressed in the field of tourism, as well as to introduce some of the debates it has generated: the potentialities of its association with a process of revaluation of local gastronomy, the motivations of the slow tourist and, finally, the opportunities, but also contradictions and limitations of a proposal of this type to transform tourism in an emancipatory sense.

Las tejedoras mayas de Guatemala: un proceso activo para la salvaguardia de su patrimonio cultural inmaterial

Currently, many are the phenomena that occur around intangible cultural heritage (ICH), related to its politics and legacy. With a critical analysis perspective, this article aims to describe the processes of patrimonialisation, commodification, and touristification of ICH, especially of the Guatemalan Mayan fabrics. The ongoing movement of Guatemalan weavers to protect and vindicate the cultural value of this art brings to light the role of different actors that intervene in intangible cultural heritage and, of greater relevance, indigenous communities. The following analysis framework on the diverse conceptualisations of heritage, authenticity, commodification and touristification allows for a deeper understanding of the Mayan weavers’ situation. The methodology used in this article consists on a case study, through which the following main conclusions arise: the lack of protection of ICH of this case study given the complex definitions and categorisations; the need to identify the consequences of commodification and touristification of ancestral tapestries, highlighting the importance of tourism management from the communities; and, finally, the key role of women as transmitters and protectors of ICH, who have headed a process of movement and empowerment.

Tourism development at World Heritage Site: The case of Loire Valley in France

In 2000, UNESCO included a linear cultural landscape along a 200 kilometre stretch in the middle reaches of the Loire Valley, between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire. The management of this extensive cultural landscape is exemplary, innovative but also complicated. The aim of this article is to explore the challenges faced and strategies adopted by the Loire Valley as a World Heritage Site in the development of tourism. Quantitative and qualitative data were both used to enhance the depth and breadth of analysis. The work presented refers to three sources of data. The findings reveal that tourism development in the Loire Valley has some challengers, such as short stays of tourists, slow growth in tourist numbers, uneven visitor numbers between castles, and the blurred role of World Heritage status in destination image. However, three different aspects of strategies have been applied by the authorities to enhance tourism development, including governance and marketing, attraction development and activation, as well as synergies of local communities.

Evaluación y análisis de herramientas digitales en el yacimiento arqueológico de Empúries, Catalunya

Within the scope of the evolution of technologies, there are more and more heritage and cultural spaces that include in their dissemination and mediation technological tools, specifically and significantly, those catalogued as digital tools. This study takes into account heritage spaces that have permanently included digital tools as mediation resources in archaeological spaces. To this end, the case of the archaeological site of Empúries, Catalonia, has been taken as an example, where an evaluation of these digital tools has been carried out based on their capacity to create and transmit knowledge to users, on the understanding of the material remains present in the site and on the satisfaction generated by these tools. This research is of an exploratory nature and has been carried out using a qualitative methodology. The aim is to establish to what extent the technological or digital tools (specifically, the audio guide and Virtual Reality) help to understand the material remains present in the archaeological site, and the extent to which the digital tools chosen in the mediation of the heritage encourage interaction between visitor and environment is analysed. The results show that it is not possible to say that digital tools significantly increase visitor satisfaction, since the average response of all visitors, regardless of the visit made, is positive.

ICT Usage determinants among Tanzania World Heritage sites

This study aimed to assess the determinants of ICT usage at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. Data for this study were collected from August 2017 to February 2018 from 238 World Heritage Site decision-makers. The study stratified these respondents into three strata based on UNESCO’s categorization of WHSs type (nature, mixed, and culture). Systematic random sampling was then used to select respondents from each stratum according to their ratio in the population. Descriptive statistics examined the kurtosis and skewness indices of the output. Testing of the hypotheses involved structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis techniques. The results indicated that WHSs decision-makers would increasingly use ICT when they perceive a relative advantage (PR) and a higher level of perceived less complexity (PCL). Moreover, a higher level of ICT support infrastructures (INF) and support skills (SS) would result in a greater level of ICT usage. Lastly, a higher level of perceived competitive pressure (PCP) and perceived pressure from customers (PPC) would result in a greater level of ICT usage.Only one variable, perceived compatibility, did not have a statistical significant relationship on ICT usage and determine to be an insignificant factor that can influence ICT usage at WHSs. A significant contribution is that the study contributes to expanding the knowledge base of the use of ICT technologies in the tourism industry. The study could be used to develop more robust models concerning ICT determinant factors, not only to WHSs but to other tourism sectors such as training institutions, hotels, ICT vendors, consultants, and the government in Tanzania.

Street Escape en la Colonia Güell: conceptualización, diseño y evaluación de una estrategia de mediación del patrimonio cultural

In this project, a gamified mediation strategy is proposed for the enhancement of the industrial heritage of Colonia Güell through the Street Escape tool. The general objectives are the conceptualization and design of a mediation strategy and its subsequent evaluation, as well as the analysis of the results obtained. In order to achieve these objectives, an investigation was developed that has as key points the gamification in heritage spaces and the Escape Room tourism. The qualitative methodology used has been a case study that has had the techniques of participant observation and focus group to collect information and behaviors from the ten participants in the game. The Street Escape has been done with two groups, one representing the teenage public and the other representing the youth public, since the tourist and didactic offer of Colonia Güell is insufficient to respond to the needs of young public. Afterwards, the conceptualization, design and evaluation of the Street Escape in Colonia Güell has been carried out. Finally, the results obtained show that the creation of a gamified mediation strategy helps to bring industrial heritage closer to young people.

Beyond virtual cultural tourism: history-living experiences with cinematic virtual reality

Virtual reality offers unprecedented opportunities for creating cultural tourism experiences that tell visitors emotionally engaging stories about the past. This paper focuses onthe latest frontier of immersive storytelling rivalling feature films, cinematic virtual reality, which can immerse users into 360-degree films making them feel like living the story. Through a qualitative analysis of five projects, this paper explores how this new media form has been applied for cultural heritage storytelling and analyses the reactions of users to the historyliving experiences with an emphasis on their emotional responses. Based on the findings of the analysis, implications are discussed for the design of VR experiences in cultural tourism.

Tourism&Theatre. To be or not to be?

This project seeks to study the TourismTheatre phenomenon. The main proposal of the research is to highlight strategies of how an urban destination can make, from its inherent theatre products and theatrical culture, a tourist attraction.The methodology undertaken has been an exploratory search of qualitative information thanks to exhaustive in-depth interviews with theatrical and tourism professionals and companies. Currently, London and New York are the most successful examples of TourismTheatre destinations. However, examples from other western destinations are devising alternatives strategies.Surprisingly, the conclusion that the project has unearthed is that tourism accessibility is the key to TourismTheatre phenomenon. In destinations where theatre is not yet a tourism attraction, tourist managers should focus on making the art form more reachable for tourist consumption (content accessibility, communication campaigns, distribution channels, etc.). Thus, the creation of a tourism accessibility company applied to theatre could be the most feasible strategy to adopt.

La figura de la Film Commission en la puesta en valor de los recursos audiovisuales técnicos y profesionales de un territorio en España

The interest in turning a territory into a setting for the filming of cinematographic audiovisual productions, television series or any other type of audiovisual product, constitutes the main engine of the start-up of a Film Office or Film Commission in any locality, region, province or region.The mission of a filming office is to highlight, not only the benefits of landscapes, monuments, climate of a territory or the ability of its people to host filming equipment (logistics, predisposition of citizens), but also to give visibility to the technical and human audiovisual resources with which a shooting team arrived in a locality could count on in that environment.This research aims to study the figure of the Film Commission and its contribution to the dynamization of production in a territory through the enhancement of the local audiovisual sector -companies and specialized technicians- as an attractiveness of the territory.