E-heritage and e-museums: Technological resources for tourism planning

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.