Empowering Heritage Tourism Management through Digital Design competences among young job seekers

CONTEXTOn the grounds of Heritage Tourism acting as a fundamental part of cultural heritage and sustainable tourism making up almost 40% of tourism revenues globally, a wide list of digital initiatives have been taken during the last few years. In particular, advanced technologies (such as 360o photo, Augmented Reality, 3D scanning, etc.) in conjunction with hybrid skills (i.e. technical and non-technical) of businesses’ digital transformation have been providing endless possibilities in the field of cultural tourism towards enriching tourists experiences based on cultural heritage. Indeed, there are several examples revealing that heritage tourism is increasingly moving towards a new digital era.However, the COVID-19 crisis has a massive impact on the tourism-related cultural sector, having shone a light both on the challenges endured by people working in the sector and on how cultural life is weakened by the global lockdown (Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends, 2020). In fact, the pandemic crisis jeopardizes the most crucial parts of cultural tourism (UNESCO, 2020). With almost 13% of museums being under the threat of never re-opening, more than 80% of UNESCO World Heritage properties being locked and most people working on tourism-related jobs being currently unemployed, the need to move towards digitization becomes even more urgent. To that end, new skills are being required among the professional profiles of culture and tourism. It is thus rational for young people seeking job opportunities in the heritage tourism sector to be more equipped with digital competences to form a more resilient tourism workforce (UNWTO, 2020).GOALThe proposed project aims at empowering young people in promoting Heritage Tourism resources through the development of their own skills in Digital Design for the digital transformation of heritage tourism. Moving towards a totally new era in cultural tourism that integrates the concept of digital heritage tourist into cultural life, young job seekers should be equipped with competences that allow them to differentiate themselves among a close and yet competitive industry. After the project completion, participants will be able to put their creativity into action being in position to map out digital content that promotes local culture and manage the tones of resources that cultural life offers (museum exhibits, local products, places to visit, local food, etc.) in an intuitive manner.ACTIVITIESThe project will be facilitated through a hands-on online course developed especially for young adults already working or willing to work in the field of heritage tourism and on a web-based tool that will allow them to create their own digital heritage tourist guide.METHODOLOGYThe iterative methodology is segregated into concrete steps towards delivering a highly qualitative results hinged on the needs of the target group. Each deliverable will be validated through two iterations that will be made available to the project participants before the final release under the prism of receiving valuable feedback within the context of a Continuous Improvement Programme.RESULTS-Digital Designer CompendiumDeveloping a practical e-course for young adults, regardless their background, related to Digital Design main aspects and skills (incl. banner ads, UI/UX wireframes, website elements, infographics, layout principles, etc.).-Digital Heritage Tour FacilitatorA web-based facilitator will be developed allowing young adults to create their own digital cultural tour putting their acquired skills into action. Users will be in position to create their own projects (tours) selecting assets through a list of pre-defined criteria and existing or new online libraries that will promote local tourism (local food, products, monuments, history, architecture, etc.). PARTICIPANTS-Direct:oYoung adults seeking job opportunities in heritage tourism sector-Indirect:o Youth workers/training organizationso Tourism organizationso Organizations related to the creative/cultural industryo NGOs or other organizations taking initiatives towards sustainable developmento Digital designers/eLearning companieso Policy makersIMPACTThe impact of the project lies in the two-folded endeavor towards increasing the digital competences of unemployed in tourism and in promoting sustainable development through cultural awareness. The objective of the project will be facilitated through avant-garde digital tools.LONG-TERM BENEFITSThe project upholds an agile-based training path towards overcoming the pandemic crisis in the cultural area fostering the digital as well as creativity skills of young adults. In response to COVID-19, this will immediately create digital opportunities for job seekers in tourism, but will also form the tourism of tomorrow as an initiative to rethink tourism and how it will work in the future. Heritage tourism will thus re-open though a digital world offering interactive user experiences.