1. Virtual Heritage Experiences: Towards A Typology Bingjie Liu, M.S. Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida Holly Donohoe, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida March 2013

2. Introduction The influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) development (Buhalis & Law, 2008) New Tourists have the specific requirement of “edutainment ” (Buhalis & Law, 2008) Destination management organizations are transforming towards knowledge-based entrepreneurships (Stamboulis & Sjayannis, 2003)

3. Introduction ICT influence in heritage tourism On-site interpretation The emergence of virtual heritage (VH) A type of virtual environments that embedded with cultural heritage and represented through digital media” (Tan & Rahaman, 2009 p. 144) Preservation and education (Berndt, & Carlos, 2000; Roussou, 2002) Alternative form for heritage visits (Sundstedt et al., 2004).

4. Example : Lascaux cave

5. Introduction Can VH become a sustainable form of cultural tourism? The key is to understand how receptive tourists could accept VH as tourism substitute (Guttentag, 2010)

6. Study Objective As one of the early attempts, this study examined both the supply and demand of VH and proposed a conceptual framework to demonstrate the possibilities of VH as cultural tourism products

7. Theoretical Background : VH Supply Side: Virtual Heritage Sites: Create and represent a virtual heritage site of accuracy and authenticity (e.g. Addision, 2000; Ibrahim et al., 2011; Koller et al., 2009) User experience: a conceptual framework of interpretation (Rahaman et al., 2012)

8. Theoretical Background: VH Conceptual model for interpreting digital heritage Adopted from Rahaman & Tan, 2010

9. Theoretical Background : Cultural Tourists Demand: Cultural Tourist Cultural tourism as special interest tourism and cultural tourists (McKercher et al, 2002 ) The cultural tourists typology (McKercher et al, 2002 ) A spectrum of cultural tourists based on the centrality of cultural tourists rangingg from casual cultural tourists to purposeful cultural tourist (McKercher et al, 2002)

10. Proposed Conceptual Framework Dimensions: Supply (VH) : interpretation Demand (Cultural Tourists): the centrality of cultural tourism

11. Proposed Conceptual Framework Demand Serious Cultural Tourists Demand Casual Cultural Tourists Supply Low Interpretation Supply High Interpretation Moderate SubstitutiveLow Substitutive High SubstitutiveModerate Substitutive

12. Implication Marketing Help produce positive destination image Engage with a broader audience Management Heritage preservation, and sustainable management Increase the value of education Necessities to build up virtual heritage sites Different strategy towards different population

13. Limitation Conceptualized model, future empirical research is needed A general theoretical estimation

14. Thank you