Augmented Reality contents for cultural travel

"<< Background >>Some destinations fit the definition of periphery, which is defined as a region that is far from the main activity areas and has poor access to markets, in the context of tourism. However, at the same time, these areas, which are defined as ideal regions for the production of cultural goods, have a great potential in terms of alternative tourism with their handicrafts, traditional foods, folk dances and festivals. Reaching these destinations to target markets with the support of technology will bring great advantages for both local people and tourism businesses. There is a lack of technology-based educational material for VET educators and students. Applications to support field studies, especially those that can be used outside the classroom at the point of visit, are quite limited. Augmented reality applications are not common, especially outside mainstream tourist destinations, where private sector representatives and professional tourist guides can use the application in their tours, thus offering a different experience to tourists. There are few online platforms for peripheral areas where visitors can get information about the festivals, handicrafts, food and beverage opportunities, and cultural heritage of the places.<< Objectives >>The Record project aims to foster sustainable digital innovation in tourism, particularly in less central European regions, by using interactive Augmented Reality (AR) solutions to enhance traditional attractions. The Record initiative seeks to leverage new technological and digital solutions to maximize the potential of Cultural Heritage as a catalyst for sustainable job growth and business development in an increasingly competitive and global tourism market. Thus, an environment that contributes to local businesses and the economy of the local people should be created, apart from the classical visiting points. In addition, new technology-based learning tools have been created for both VET educators and students. This deficiency is being eliminated in the field of tourism and cultural heritage education. An application has been developed that will support professional tourist guides and travel agency managers both in using them in their tours and in marketing cultural heritage. It will be an important tool to reach young consumers, especially those who have a close relationship with technology. It will also add value to the destination experience to increase visitor satisfaction.<< Implementation >>In our project called RECORD, through augmented reality technology, less known historical, cultural and traditional regions in Europe were introduced, within the scope of tourism, marketing, planning and management, entertainment, food and beverage, establishments, education, transportation, accessibility, heritage preservation, museums, etc. With the ""virtual pool platform and mobile application project outputs"", three-dimensional visual objects and virtual environments are created in tourism to show tourists tourism businesses, destinations, museums, historical, cultural and architectural areas. It was possible to experience places in this virtual environment as if they were real. Our RECORD project, with its ""handbook for professionals"" output, also became a guide in tourism literature for the educators of this sector that provides vocational training.On 04.07.2022, a zoom meeting was held and detailed information was given by us regarding the determination of the first concrete examples of which regions the countries should focus on within the framework of IO1 and it was decided to conduct a detailed research on the concept of ‘peripherial area’ and to identify the regions by mid-September at the latest and to introduce and present the regions face-to-face at the second TPM meeting. In this sense, TEMPLATE, which will ensure that the regions will be included in the ‘E-tourism Platform and Virtual Repository’ to be created and will constitute the basis for the APP to be implemented, has been created by us and the survey questions required for IO1, which also include stakeholders, have been prepared on a scientific basis and shared with all our partners. Our other zoom meeting was held on 16.09.2022 and all the shares were checked and it was agreed to hold our second TPM meeting in Ankara on 19-20 October 2022 with the permission of the National Agency and upon the signed acceptance document from the partners, it was agreed to hold our second TPM meeting in Ankara on 19-20 October 2022 and to determine all regions and the results of the first application survey there. In this zoom meeting, it was also agreed that It was emphasised that the festival part should be defined in regions and it was foreseen that the presentations would be organised and presented in this way. In addition, it was also informed that all regions should be created both in their own languages and in English. In the following period, transnational project meeting were organised in Ankara, Izmir and a training meeting was held in Sassari. The closing meeting was held in Las Palmas. << Results >>The tourism performance of the provinces in which the project participants are located was analyzed regionally, and peripheral regions within the city with rich cultural heritage but attracting fewer tourists than expected in cultural tourism were identified. These peripheral destinations are identified as the following: Türkiye, İzmir, Bergama; Germany, Berlin, Wedding; Spain, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands; Italy, Alta Marmilla, Sardegna. After the peripheral regions of the four cities that are not performing more effectively in the European tourism market have been identified, an inventory of their cultural heritage has been studied. Cultural sites and associated cultural heritage were identified through online surveys among tourism businesses, cultural associations and regional authorities and secondary data research on tourism and culture websites, academic literature, regional and national reports and policy documents in the field of tourism and cultural heritage in the identified areas. 5 Reports (1 per partner) detailing a list of cultural/traditional sites with the related information on cultural heritage, tourism offer, and tourism-related services, categorized per typology were completed. A quantitative analysis of tourism statistics and a focus group study were conducted to identify customer segments. According to the result of market analysis, cultural tourists, novelty-seeking tourists and individual tourists were identified as the most common profile. Apart from these tourist profiles, cultural heritages have been identified for gastronomy tourists, rural tourists and faith tourists, which are becoming increasingly important in the travel sector.The design of a web platform that will also function as a repository data for AR (augmented reality) application is planned. Digital transposition of the findings of research into the interactive resources embedded in the Web Platform (virtual repository) was performed by the web specialist partner. A web platform has been created that includes the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Europe's peripheral regions with visuals. While creating the platform, it was aimed to bring cultural heritage to the forefront, which is not included in widespread promotions for tourism purposes. In order to support small-scale businesses in these peripheral regions and to inspire possible new investments and employment, festivals and traditional products and handicrafts are particularly emphasized. The platform's content and interactive functionalities are designed to be available in English and in each of the project partners' languages. The reference for the interactive combination between customer profiles and offers in the repository data was revealed by a Compatibility Matrix designed by the IO coordinator and filled in by the individual partner organizations. The matrix reported the compatibility of the defined offer with each preference parameter characterizing the specific profiles.AR (Augmented Reality) application, compatible with Android and IOs configurations, integrating Augmented Reality features, was developed based on the mentioned destinations and their cultural heritage. The APP provides mobile device users with access to all of the interactive functionalities of the virtual repository. The application has been developed to provide a virtual tour experience. The application, which uses data from the web platform, is designed to be active only at the places of visit in order to encourage actual visits. With this feature, only a limited experience can be accessed outside the location, while all the functions of the app are only active when you are in the location. AR (Augmented Reality) application has been created to transfer cultural heritage through gamification method. For each destination point, there are games developed for 5 visit points. A character was created to visually support the presentation of cultural heritage, and information was provided to the user in 5 different languages. Users are led by the app to follow instructions to reach some of the most unknown sites in order to unlock special contents and anecdotes, increasing interest and knowledge about some of the most relevant cultural sites in peripherical regions of Europe. The application will be kept constantly updated to add content such as festivals and events as well as archaeological sites, and users will encounter renewed content with a sustainable approach.The User Manual, which is available for download both on the web platform and in the app, is provided in English and in the languages of the participants. It details how AR (Augmented Reality) applications can be used in the presentation of cultural heritage, tourist experience and training of service providers."