Stakeholders' attitudes towards tools for sustainable tourism in historical cities

Urban space is often the cause of disputes. The underlying causes of these disputes are conflicting interests, attitudes and needs regarding the way it is used. Among the various functions performed by cities, tourism activities have been distinguished as the foremost in the cities of historical value. Mass tourism has developed in the last decade and its excessive flow of tourists has in turn led to overtourism which as described in literature is a negative phenomenon. The causes of conflicts related to the development of tourism and their scale are very diverse. The freezing of the tourism economy during the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to balance its development in the future. As described in the article, this research aims at identifying the attitudes and expectations of Krakow's residence towards the tools of balancing the tourism economy in the post pandemic period. The statistical analysis of the acquired data collected through questionnaires from 386 respondents during July 2020 revealed that most of the respondents support the preservation of cultural heritage and landscapes over business and profit making.

Factors prompting augmented reality adoption in sacred places

There is evidence that sacred places across the world are launching augmented reality (AR) applications. This application of AR is somehow prompted by the most recent Covid-19 pandemic where in-person experiences are altered by the virtual. AR, as an innovative technology, augments the physical environment with digitally generated imagery that can generate privileges for tourists in sacred places and become the reason to trigger cultural conflicts and religious controversy. This in-depth interview-based research aims to explore the tourists' views and ideas of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in terms of possibilities, cultural conflicts, and religious controversy. Findings show that the application of AR in a sacred place can support tourists in many useful ways, can offer them positive experiences, and help in sustainability concerns of the site. However, the application of AR in a sacred place can be an element of conflicting interests between the religious and general tourists. Adequate attention is thus required from the parties involved in terms of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a sacred religious site.

The digital economy enables high-quality cultural tourism integration:mechanisms, channels, and empirical evidence

Following the rapid scientific and technological development in this new era of global industrial transformation, the tourism industry has overcome the severe challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by taking advantage of new development opportunities. Digital technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and fifth-generation mobile communications have released the huge potential for promoting the development of the high-quality cultural tourism integration. Scholars have explored the benefits of developing and improving the quality of cultural tourism integration in addition to how the digital economy can promote the development of cultural tourism integration. Most existing research has regarded the digital economy as a means to promote the development of cultural tourism integration;however, there is relatively little systematic research on the logical mechanism, transmission channels, and practical paths that enable the high-quality development of cultural tourism integration. Therefore, this paper systematically explores the logical mechanism, direct effects, and transmission mechanisms in the digital economy that promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. The study findings open up the "black box"of developing high-quality cultural tourism integration and help to establish its scientific basis in the digital economy. Based on a systematic explanation of how the digital economy enables the high-quality development and transmission of cultural tourism integration through organizational, technological, and product innovation channels, this paper conducts empirical testing using 2011-2020 panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan of Chian) and obtains three main findings. First, the digital economy has a positive enabling effect on the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration, which has been verified in benchmark regression, instrumental variable regression, and robustness testing. Second, this enabling effect shows regional differences. For example, East China benefits from its relatively well-developed digital economy and can enjoy the dividends from its high-quality cultural tourism destinations. However, although West China has seen rapid growth in its digital economy, the region also shows a trend of increasing marginal effects from its enabling effect, while the digital economy's enabling trend in Central China still needs to be strengthened. Third, by constructing a transmission channel, that is, "digital economy-organization-technology-product innovation-developmental quality of cultural tourism integration", we find that the digital economy can positively promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration by regulating transmission channels for innovation, such as organizational, technological, and product innovation. According to the research conclusions, measures to promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration in the digital economy should be taken in the following four areas. First, local governments and cultural tourism departments should deepen their development strategies to integrate the digital economy with the real economy and systematically cultivate new drivers for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. Second, a digital cultural tourism platform should be built to optimize the value creation mechanism for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. Third, regional heterogeneity characteristics should be combined with the digital economy's enabling effect to implement a differentiated digital cultural tourism development strategy. Fourth, organizational, technological, and product innovation advantages should be cultivated to expand the transmission channels for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration within the digital economy.

Racing with the industry: an interview on motorsports, esports, livestreaming and the COVID-19 pandemic

The following interview discusses two paradigmatic media sports cases during live sports lockdown in 2020. Producing online tournament responses to the COVID-19 cancellations of live events, the IndyCar First Responders 175 race and the W Series esports league both turned to esports livestreaming. Under this transition, themes of safety, gender equity, risk, and rules emerged as key topics surrounding the current and future state of esports within media sports ecosystems. As discussed by Garth Midgley (founder of GOATi Entertainment and lead developer of 22-Racing Series), Abe Stein (senior strategist with the Sports Innovation Lab), Gina Miller and Jo Diamond (Communications executives, W Series), and Emma Witkowski (senior lecturer and esports academic), these cases exemplify ascending issues in sports quick transition to online esports and networked livestreaming solutions, shoring up media sports under lockdown.

Museum unions and social change: reopening with solidarity

Over the past two years, an explosion of organised labour activity has emerged across the museum industry in the United States. As the museum world adjusts to the 'new normal' of pandemic life, it is essential that workers continue to join forces against the rampant precarity in the cultural sector, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the often-disastrous managerial responses to government shut-downs. Central to the healing of the sector after the trauma of pandemic-related layoffs and furloughs - and critical to the success of museums in the 21st century - is the shift in the self-identification of art museum workers away from the conceptualization of creative labour as removed from 'other' kinds of labour. This psycho-social transition on a mass scale opens the possibility of a movement of 'liberatory unionism' that can work to heal not just the museum sector, but harness worker power in support of intersectional social justice.

Artist residencies as specialist accommodation: cultural entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: Artist residencies comprise a unique accommodation type and a form of cultural entrepreneurship which remains overlooked from a hospitality perspective. This exploratory study aims to examine the phenomenon of artist residencies as specialist accommodation, as well as their operators' motives as cultural entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Creation theory is used to explore how artist residency operators create entrepreneurial opportunities. Design/methodology/approach: Asynchronous email interviews were conducted with 20 artist residency operators from 18 countries. Purposive sampling was used to select interviewees and thematic analysis to analyze the primary data. Findings: The results showed that with few exceptions, artist residencies address all criteria of specialist accommodation, and that social interactions among artists and operators are fundamental in running an artist residency. From a cultural entrepreneurship perspective, most of the operators declared that their priorities were to promote artistic creativity and cultural knowledge exchange, confirming the main elements of creation theory. Practical implications: Managerial implications are discussed to enhance the resilience of artist residencies and strengthen their financial viability, as well as to support them to overcome the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: This study extends the hospitality literature by adding the artist residencies to the existing types of specialist accommodation. It also examines creation theory and concludes that artistic creativity and cultural networks are prominent in artist residency entrepreneurial activities.

Stakeholders' perspectives on post-pandemic sustainable tourism development - the case of Vrsar, Croatia

This paper presents research focused on the post-pandemic opportunities of special interest tourism development, through the elaboration of the stakeholders' perspectives on the sustainable valorisation of local natural and cultural heritage in the changing global context. The main goal of the research was to analyse the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on key stakeholders' activities and their attitudes towards future sustainable tourism development. The empirical research has been realised in the Municipality of Vrsar, a typical Mediterranean tourist destination characterised by mass tourism and high seasonality. The research was based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including a literature review, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders' representatives and a tourists' attitudes survey. The conducted research indicated that the current pandemic could be seen also as an opportunity for all key stakeholders to reflect on the sustainability of the existing tourism practices and develop products which will be more nature-friendly and respond to new needs and expectations of changing tourist demand. The new, more sustainable, post-pandemic model of participatory governance in cultural and tourism development should involve all interested stakeholders, by developing a distinctive offer for special interest tourist segments which could disperse demand in time and space and prolong the tourism season.

Dealing with uncertainty, from overtourism to overcapacity: a decision support model for art cities: the case of UNESCO WHCC of Florence

This study analyses tourist flows in the UNESCO World Heritage Historic Centre of Florence before the occurrence of the COVID-19 crisis and examines how the pandemic has impacted the city. We build a system of indicators to measure the carrying capacity of art cities, assessing the risk exposure of these historic settings to overtourism. The model provides a detailed picture of the evolving tourism phenomenon and the economic, social, and environmental implications thereof. The indicators system supports local decision-makers in monitoring tourism flows and evaluating critical policies to preserve the destination heritage. It further examines the sustainable strategy implemented by the Municipality of Florence towards tourism recovery, as cities of art need to protect their cultural heritage and balance the needs of residents and tourists.

Prospect and challenges with Penta helix model for UNESCO global geopark and local economic development: a lesson from Indonesia

Batur is the first area in Indonesia that is considered worthy of being a geopark by UNESCO. This determination is an acceleration of the progress of the nature and culture-based tourism industry that helps the welfare of the surrounding community with the principle of sustainability. This study aims to examine the role of several parties in enhancing UNESCO global geopark in Batur Bali of Indonesia as well as promoting local economic welfare. The study adopted a qualitative study with case study approach to gain a comprehensive result of the phenomenon. The qualitative content analysis and narrative analysis was used to process various information. This study focuses in UNESCO Global Geopark Batur Bali in Indonesia as the first and most successful in creating a better economic welfare primarily during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that the Penta helix model can be used to develop Geopark Batur Bali and Indonesia in general in which each party plays their role in this development tourism and local economic development.

Quantitative visitors' analisys to the Farm Cultural Park Museum (FCP), in Favara, Sicily (Italy)

This study focuses on one line of cultural tourism. Specifically, in a contemporary art museum, located in Favara, (Agrigento), Sicily, called Farm Cultural Park (FCP) Museum. The study analyzes the profile of FCP visitors, from the perspective of cultural, sustainable and participatory tourism. A total of 302 surveys were conducted during June, July and August 2020. Therefore, it must be considered that they were the first months after the confinement decreed in the country due to Covid-19, with all the obvious difficulties. Data analysis was carried out with the SPSS statistical program in its version 26. The methodology was based on a structural equation model (SEM), with different causal relationships among the analyzed constructs. Tourists came with the precise interest of visiting an open museum, with a very high social and participatory component. The visitors were fully satisfied by the staff who welcomed them. A medium-low level of spending was observed, linked to consumption inside the museum. And, unfavorable opinions were expressed on a lack of signage to arrive in FCP. The final results support the influence of preferences upon satisfaction, which originates attitudinal loyalty. Therefore, it would be very important for Sicily to show that tourism on the island could not be seasonal, due to the magnificent climatic conditions that prevail throughout the year. It would also be crucial to expand research on the synergies of cultural tourism that could be generated between the Valley of the Temples, in Agrigento, and the FCP, in Favara. In this way, a greater range of sites would be offered that concern various interests and ideas, both for the department's business community, as well as for tourists. The corollary of these actions would be to increase the presence of Agrigento on the map of international cultural tourism. All this should be capable of transforming, enhancing and making known the richness of territorial diversity, traditions and historical and environmental contexts, first in the department of Agrigento, and later, throughout the island.

Phygital rural cultural heritage: a digitalisation approach for destination recovery and resilience. (Special Issue: How could rural tourism provide better support for wellbeing and socio-economic development?)

Purpose: This study examines a phygital approach to rural cultural heritage tourism, adopted by a rural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat Province, Thailand, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, it investigates a community's initiatives to amalgamate its physical and digital marketing communications in order to engage with consumers as a strategy for destination recovery and resilience. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative exploratory study involving three stages of action, applying two research approaches: (1) participatory action research (PAR) with Sapphaya's tourism stakeholders, and (2) social media research utilising netnographic analysis of Sapphaya's tourism social enterprise social media pages. Findings: The findings indicate that a phygital rural cultural heritage strategy can facilitate the interconnectivity between a destination's physical and digital dimensions of its cultural heritage tourism product, thereby enhancing its intrinsic value, meaning and experiential perceptions. Specifically, it recommends that a successful community-based phygitalisation strategy requires grassroot engagement across all stages of planning, development, implementation and management of the rural cultural heritage tourism product. Practical Implications: The paper focusses on the cultural heritage tourism strategy adopted by a rural community across the physical-digital-phygital spectrum to augment its sustainable tourism development during a time of crisis. A framework for phygital rural cultural heritage as a strategy for destination resilience and recovery is also proposed. Originality/value: This study adopts a local engagement approach to develop a cooperative community heritage management strategy, based upon local rural capacity building towards digitalisation and empowering innovative partnerships amongst its stakeholders.

Glocalizing creative hub concept for Malaysian creative city development: a conceptual review

The creative hub concept is gaining popularity globally as a tool within the creative economy to generate socio-economic and cultural values for societal and community development. Though the concept is nascent and the creative hub itself can be manifested in variegated forms, the notion is oftentimes linked to urban development particularly the way creative hubs are found to be subsumed and contribute towards the growth of creative industries en route the formation of a creative city. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the creative hub concept and the way this global concept it is being understood, adopted and adapted locally amidst Malaysian local nuances. Based on secondary data sources, a systematic literature review was conducted to review global definitions, concepts, examples and illustrate how creative hubs are linked to creative city development and sustainable urban development. Literature review based on similar themes for the Malaysian context showed that the creative hub concept is also variegated, and each hub is shaped by the initiators, funding model and formation purpose of either commercial, social or culture and artistic. The paper concludes that reconceptualization of Malaysian creative hubs is timely and apt by taking into consideration also elements like location, culture-specificity and the influence of ICT as the creative hub concept, its form and operations morph and navigate in response to the current global COVID-19 pandemic. The implications that derive from this study will have conceptual, practical and policy implications when adopting and adapting the creative hub concept for the Malaysian context.

Sustainability of artists and craft persons during COVID-19: a case study of Kalakriti creations

India is a land of unique culture bonded with unmatched art and crafts in every nook and corner. Apart from being one of the most important components of tourism, the handloom and handicraft sector makes a major contribution to employment generation. This case study helps the learner understand the application of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis on the hand-loom and handicraft industry and the efforts made by artisans and craft persons. It will also provide an opportunity for: (i) critical thinking regarding the opportunities and threats to the handicraft industry;and (ii) analytical thinking on promoting handicrafts as a product and how artisans survived during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the help of their art and crafts.

Role of leadership and local culture in COVID-19 control in Bali Province, Indonesia

The increase in positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia since 2020 has led to various control measures, including prevention. One of them is through cultural approach and local wisdom that differs from one region to another, such as the one applied in Bali Province. The purpose of the study was to explore Bali's experience in dealing with COVID-19 from the perspective of culture and local wisdom. A qualitative approach was used in this study using in-depth interviews with the Bali Provincial Disaster Control Office (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah, BPBD) and the Bali Provincial Health Office. Results of this study showed that the Bali Province has a strong religious approach, consisting of hupokara, which is the faith in the Creator as disaster is believed to be a tremendous force that has to be managed through a ceremony called niskala, which giving offerings to God for health and safety of the people of Bali Province. The Balinese believe that the COVID-19 virus can be controlled with rituals and offerings. The presence of Pecalang as a traditional security unit looked up to and obeyed by the Balinese people also supports the successful management of COVID-19. The unique approach of Bali Province that is based on the local wisdom through mobilizing Traditional Villages, promoting custom-based cooperation through the formation of a task force at the Traditional Village level, and with good leadership from the Governor of Bali has led to successful COVID-19 control in Bali Province. Bali has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that togetherness and mutual cooperation among people are needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the province.

Sustainable neighbourhood gastronomy: Tokyo independent restaurants facing crises. (Special Issue: City building knowledge from neighbourhoods in Asia Pacific.)

Neighbourhood gastronomy, the agglomeration of restaurants and smaller eateries in residential urban areas, contributes to the lives of residents and visitors economically, culturally, and socially. Since winter 2020, neighbourhood gastronomy in Asian cities has been severely disrupted by COVID, compounded by many other long-term stressors. In urban Japan these stresses include gentrification, the aging of proprietors, urban renewal, and corporatisation of gastronomy. Empirically, this paper discusses how independent restaurants in Tokyo contribute to community life by supporting grassroots creative industries, small business opportunities, meaningful artisanal work, convivial social spaces, local cultural heritage, and a human-scale built environment. The study uses intensive single-site urban ethnography to discuss how restaurateurs face immediate and long-term crises at the community level. By using the "neighbourhood as method", a concept of sustainable neighbourhood gastronomy is developed that should be applicable in other urban contexts.

Gastronomy tourism and the revival of Italian villages after the pandemic

The effects of COVID-19 on tourism include a rapid growth of some consumption behavior trends, such as an urge for escapism, a desire to (re)discover minor and rural destinations, and a wish to live memorable moments. Moreover, literature and industry reports highlight the importance of contemporary demand for authenticity and experientiality. This work analyzes visitors' perceptions once in the destination, focusing in particular on small villages' gastronomic tourist offer. An exploratory study was conducted on tourists visiting Italian small villages of historical origin, the borghi, and nearby wine producers to record their perceptions and sense any significant difference. In-depth interviews were combined with participating observation to test elements from the literature on consumption behavior and identify a set of parameters, which could be applied in further studies. The results show that the borghi offer is perceived as authentic and not replicable, that wine- and foodrelated activities, often more direct and totalizing, helped the visitors to connect with the destination;thus, gastronomic tourism can represent a valuable asset in the sustainable development of the minor communities. Nevertheless, destination competitiveness is the result of an interplay of multiple factors and on top of the experiences offered (prerequisite of the tourist activity) additional aspects have to be considered in order to properly enhance small villages' tourist offer.

Lithuanian gastronomic tourism potential: opportunities and perspectives

Purpose - the aim of this paper is to analyze the gastronomic tourism trends in the world and in Lithuania, to determine the opportunities and the potential of gastronomic tourism in Lithuania and to provide recommendations for its development. Design - the theoretical part gives the understanding of gastronomic tourism in the world and its potential in Lithuania. The research gives an understanding of gastronomic tourism situation in Lithuania. Methodology - the research was done using analysis of scientific literature, secondary data analysis method of analysis and synthesis, quantitative research. The quantitative method used in this paper is a survey conducted among the local travelers. The results of the research were statistically processed using the Excel. Approach - gastronomic tourism is becoming an increasingly popular area of tourism, generating billions in revenue for businesses worldwide. According to the Global Report on Food Tourism, 79 percent travelers travel itinerary consists of a pre-analyzed calendar of gastronomic events and local cuisine, one in three travelers consider national cuisine to be a motivating travel choice and spends about 30 percent on food of total travel expenses. Findings - in Lithuania, gastronomic travel is still a relatively new niche in tourism. In recent years, this area of tourism has attracted considerable interest from foreign tourists and local travelers, however, the Covid 19 pandemic halted travel. Due to the tense situation in Europe, Lithuania still does not receive a larger number of tourists from foreign countries. Hospitality businesses use variety of means to engage, attract, and encourage local people to travel. Gastronomic tourism is one of such measures, as Lithuania can offer travelers quality local food, interesting national dishes with deep traditions, various food festivals and events. Originality of the research - the article analyzes results of research, discusses ways of attracting local tourists introducing more variety in gastronomic tourism. Practical implications are based on research findings and could be used by local travel agencies creating new gastronomic tourism products.

COVID-19 a disaster for heritage business models - Victoria & Albert Museum case study

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), founded in 1852 and stemming from the Great Exhibition of 1851, had a mission to educate the public, designers, manufacturers and the public about art and design. Organizations like the V&A were intended to be initially funded from the proceeds of the Great Exhibition. But how did this funding model change with time? This teaching case study about the V&A makes a comparison between its pre- and post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) business model (BM), aiming to map historic V&A value creation and value capture for visitors and stakeholders, while examining the underlying causes and effects of BM changes.

Development of the Polowijen cultural village through the digital icon of literary tourism, Ragil Kuning, as a survival strategy during a pandemic

The development of tourism based on oral literature is presented in the case of the Panji story mythology which can be found in the Polowijen Cultural Village. This mythology is visualized in the Malangan mask art. The story presented develops the characterization of Ragil Kuning in the Malangan mask art. Ragil Kuning is the younger brother of Panji Asmorobangun from the Panjalu Daha Kingdom. The Ragil Kuning icon began to be developed and shaped in the performing arts and festivals. However, the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on tourism. Social mobility policies affected tourism as well as the people's economy. In this context, tourism is a vulnerable sector due to the pandemic. However, the tourism sector can also be strong or tough. This resilience is shown by the strategic efforts made by the Polowijen Cultural Village community to develop digital-based cultural tourism and strengthen the Ragil Kuning narrative series as a tourist attraction for Polowijen Cultural Village. This research uses digital ethnography and patchwork ethnography methods. These methods were chosen in an effort to conduct research in this pandemic era.

A preliminary field work on digital heritage and the use of virtual reality for cultural heritage management

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary research project carried on during the Covid-19 Pandemic and supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). The results are gathered from six months of field and office work, as the project was limited with this period. The archaeological site of Letoon in Mugla/Turkey has been chosen as the test area, specifically the triple temples of Leto, Apollo, and Artemis. Photogrammetric reconstruction of the current situation, as well as archaeologically accurate 3D models, have been created and converted into interactive immersive VR content to measure consumer behaviour and experience. These two different types of 3D content are integrated into the VR environment both separately and as a single content with switching from one to the other. After the creation process, the content was experienced by the visitors with different demographic characteristics and a survey was conducted to measure this experience.