Title: Developing integrated e-tourism services for cultural heritage destinations

Authors: Krassimira Antonova Paskaleva, Jose Angel Azorin

Addresses: Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Research Centre, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany; Herbert Simon Institute, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, UK. ' Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Research Centre, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

Abstract: The traditional approach to destination promotion pursued by cultural tourist cities is in need of fundamental revision. It is shown that cultural heritage is not well represented in existing e-destination platforms and e-tourism services, which reduces the competitiveness of urban tourism in an increasingly digital era. The paper discusses how cultural tourism destinations can develop intelligent systems that can improve access and use of their local heritage using integrated e-services. It is argued that if new e-services can convey diverse, distributed and multimedia information on cultural destinations and sites, then they can contribute to the cities| long-term competitiveness and sustainability. Establishing close links between the cultural heritage and ICT sectors is crucial to innovation in destinations| e-services. Discussion is based on theoretical analysis and three case study examples from Europe.

Keywords: service innovation; service integration; electronic services; e-services; electronic tourism; e-tourism; electronic destination platforms; e-destination platforms; sustainable tourism; cultural heritage; tourist cities; urban tourism; intelligent systems; access improvement; local heritage; ICT; information technology; communications technology; diverse information; distributed information; multimedia; cultural sites; competitiveness; Netherlands; Germany; Italy; ISAAC; European Union; tourist industry; tourists; sustainability; sustainable development; services technology; services management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2010.032081

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2010 Vol.13 No.3/4, pp.247 - 262

Published online: 09 Mar 2010 *

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