Magdalini Ntouka-Montesantou

Summary

At a time when new technologies have undoubtedly made their appearance in most of the activities, one of the main questions of the cultural community researchers is whether cultural heritage needs new technologies. Along this axis, this PhD proposal will examine the impact of digital technology on the promotion of Cultural Heritage through the tourist destination. In addition, digital practical applications and tools will be studied and created, which will transmit knowledge and attract all kinds of audiences.

The little amount of researches  that have been carried out on cultural tourism, and in relation to new technologies, has created the need for further investigation, study, and conclusions that meet modern challenges. Even more challenging is the case study of Kefalonia, which, although it has a very important historical and tourism background, has never been promoted until our days on the basis of its cultural wealth and its timeless history, let alone through new technologies.

More specifically, the proposed research question focuses both on collecting and organizing the existing cultural image and on the design of digital practices for transmitting, disseminating and preserving local cultural heritage. More specifically, the stages to be followed are as follows:

• Literature review and systematic review of researches on digital culture, cultural tourism, the contribution of new technologies to cultural sites, and the value of cultural regional development
• Identification of the research framework
• Establishing and grounding the research framework
• Design of pilot digital applications for the navigation and promotion of the cultural product
• Implementation of the qualitative research through a questionnaire
• Collection and analysis of study data and comparison with international data
• Concluding stage and evaluation model. This stage concludes the study and implements the writing of the conclusions.

In order to achieve the endeavor of this research, a combined study in a number of subject areas is required, such as information technology, museology, tourism, history, digital media and new technologies. In addition, it requires a review and comparative study with existing data in Greece and abroad. At international level, the deficiencies in research are obvious. Therefore, this dissertation may benefit both initiators and workers in cultural sites abroad. Moreover, it can potentially be a trigger for relevant institutions to deal more seriously with digital culture and its contribution to local development and promotion of cultural tourism. Offering  the local community, the visitors, and also culture and tourism workers themselves, opportunities for learning and knowledge disseminating in a digital way.