Title: E-heritage and e-museums: technological resources for tourism planning

Authors: Heredina Fernández Betancort; Mikel Asensio Brouard

Addresses: Escuela Universitaria de Turismo de Lanzarote (EUTL), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Rafael Alberti, S/N. 35507-Tahíche, Lanzarote, Spain. ' Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

Abstract: Internet use for travel planning has increased steadily in recent years, becoming the usual source of travel planning. However, the limited research that has been conducted on the use of websites for museums and heritage presentation sites shows a considerable gap between growing demands and the supply of resources. Websites seem to be a very important tool in the management of audiences, by increasing the capacity to disseminate information, increasing the ability to reach new potential audiences, improving public programmes for entertainment and learning, and improving communication campaigns. In addition, the use of websites for visit planning would allow heritage centres to manage the |visitor|s agenda|. This work seeks to examine the effects of the interaction between heritage sites and new technologies, and the implications of this interaction for cultural diffusion, from a shared approach that integrates heritage, tourism, and web-based communities.

Keywords: web based communities; museum websites; informal learning; e-heritage; e-museums; tourism planning; internet; electronic heritage; electronic museums; online heritage; online museums; heritage websites; cultural diffusion; online communities; virtual communities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2012.044679

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2012 Vol.8 No.1, pp.5 - 23

Published online: 20 Aug 2014 *

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