The Impact of COVID-19 on Cultural Tourism: Virtual Exhibitions, Technology and Innovation

Place Branding—The Challenges of Getting It Right: Coping with Success and Rebuilding from Crises

“…This can also help spread out the total number of a destination's visitors over a longer period of time during a year, decreasing overcrowding and congestion and also spreading tourist numbers and their expenditure over a wider geographical area around the destination's key must-see attractions or centers. Destinations can also capitalize much more on the commercialization of virtual tours to extend the season, albeit virtually [37][38][39][40]. Such a broader audience focus can also help make a place more sustainable and resilient because it is not targeting only one market segment.…”

“…When these solutions become promoted as part of the place brand, they may result in a more sustainable form of tourism in general. For example, virtual museum tours and virtual exhibitions have proved successful in not only combating a general decline in numbers of cultural tourists, but also in mitigating the impact of undertourism due to COVID-19 [39]. Indeed, it has been argued that if such online presence is managed effectively, it could actually benefit places through encouraging "the development of niche cities" [39] (p. 177).…”

“…For example, virtual museum tours and virtual exhibitions have proved successful in not only combating a general decline in numbers of cultural tourists, but also in mitigating the impact of undertourism due to COVID-19 [39]. Indeed, it has been argued that if such online presence is managed effectively, it could actually benefit places through encouraging "the development of niche cities" [39] (p. 177). Similarly, calls have been made for governments of African nations to work jointly with private-sector tourism businesses to promote virtual or online tours of for "game parks, reserves and other tourist attractions in Africa" [40] (p. 1).…”

“…Instead of a focus on growth as a tourism strategy, a clear and strong call has been made for destinations to focus on a sufficiency approach to the development of tourism [4]. There have been other calls for more of a focus on virtual tourism in which, through virtual reality (VR) technology, there is no requirement to travel in order to experience a destination [37][38][39][40].…”

Tourism, shamanism and the pandemic

“…As tourism suffers, 2 it is not just the economy projecting a huge statistical loss but also culture burdened by social/physical distancing protocols. 3 In some islands of the southern part of the Philippine archipelago, the tourism slump threatens to contract the local economy compounded by a soft-pedalling effect on cultural exchange between island inhabitants and the rest of the world. 4 The islands of Bohol and Cebu are particular cases to point out.…”