Digital business models in cultural tourism

Abstract

PurposeDigitalization had a relevant impact on the cultural tourism sector, both demand and supply. If, on the one hand, advances in digital technologies provided tourists with new mobile services able to amplify the cultural experience, on the other hand, they catalyzed the development of new business models by digital enterprises. This paper has a twofold purpose: to detect business models and key characteristics of mobile apps for cultural tourism and to analyze the offering of app-based services in this sector.Design/methodology/approachThe authors defined a methodology to identify, characterize and analyze a particular category of digital products for cultural tourism: app-based services. They are studied in terms of value creation, proposition and capture with the aim to identify the distinctive features of business models. As a result, the authors identified a classification framework on three main dimensions, namely “how to exploit mobile app features to create value for cultural tourists” (value creation), “which valuable services are delivered to cultural tourists” (value proposition) and “how companies are rewarded for the value they offered” (value capture). The authors apply the framework to perform a situation analysis of app-based services in the cultural tourism market.FindingsThe analysis highlights that digital enterprises offering app-based services do not fully exploit advances in technologies about users' value requirements. Hence, the results of our work suggest some directions that digital enterprises may follow to better exploit mobile app technology.Originality/valueTo date, little research has been devoted to investigating cultural tourism business models involving the exploitation of mobile app-based services. This research provides a useful framework to analyze fundamental aspects of business models in this sector. Such a framework represents a practical tool that provides fruitful insights for the design of a new generation of app-based services within the so-called “Internet of things” domain.

Цифрові Технології Та Диджитал-Маркетинг: Нові Можливості Для Туристичного Й Готельно-Ресторанного Бізнесу

“…Let us also consider two key practice-oriented results of the implementation of digitalization in the sector of cultural tourism:  providing tourists with mobile services that enhance the cultural experience;  the formation of new business models that focus on the dynamism of the sociocultural space and offer relevant services (Ammirato et al, 2020).…”

“…Separate elements of the research on the hotel and tourist industry are the consideration of clusters of this sphere of economic activity. In particular, cultural tourism (Ammirato et al, 2020) involves digital elements in the promotional, organizational and logistical, and practically oriented business segment of its development. For social tourism (Alves et al, 2020) digital marketing takes into account not only economic factors but also the relevance and demand for digitalization in society as a whole.…”

Entrepreneurial strategic posture and new technology ventures in an emerging economy

“…From a strategic marketing perspective, firms are often required to regularly assess their offerings (Park et al, 1986), market position, brands and products (Blankson and Kalafatis, 2001) in the wake of changes in the environment to achieve long-term survival. Anchored in the concept of market positioning is the suggestion that organisations can alter their tangible characteristics and intangible assets such as the brand, and reputation of products and the firm to help ensure effective alignment of changes in the external environment (Ammirato et al, 2021;Blankson and Kalafatis, 2001). After founding, new ventures may possess different sets of resources and capabilities, which may affect their ability to compete or adopt different market positions (Hall, 1993).…”

Can cultural tourism experience enhance cultural confidence? The evidence from Qingyuan Mountain

“…Heritage tourism has become an important ground for scholars to conduct research on cultural tourism. Experience and consumption are important elements of cultural tourism research; after all, cultural tourism involves subject areas such as economics and management, and the desire to maximize the benefits of cultural tourism while preserving it is shared by stakeholders such as tourism developers, local governments, community residents, and cultural custodians ( Ammirato et al, 2021 ). With the rise of the experience economy, the deep integration of cultural tourism and the experience economy has been consistently recognized by many scholars ( Su et al, 2020a ; Zhang et al, 2021 ).…”