Do Cultural Tourism Sites Always Need New Attractions?

In recent years, the growth and development of digital applications and elaborate interpretive designs for museums and cultural heritage sites have been nothing short of explosive.  Every major site and museum– it seems– wants, or is persuaded, to continually renovate and improve its visitor experience.  As I have written over the years (2005, 2007a,2007b), on-site technology and multimedia centers are often expensive, tend to grow obsolete rather quickly, and necessitate standby maintenance plans. That is not to say that truly innovative digital technology and interpretive infrastructure do not have their value.  The recent Heritage Jam at York University and the Coding Da Vinci Hackathon this summer in Germany have shown that new technologies and other hi-tech methods of interpretation have assumed an important place in the visualization of, and public engagement in, cultural heritage… READ MORE