Phygital rural cultural heritage: a digitalisation approach for destination recovery and resilience
21
Issued Date
2023-01-31
Resource Type
ISSN
17554217
eISSN
17554225
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85137998406
Journal Title
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes
Volume
15
Issue
1
Start Page
8
End Page
17
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes Vol.15 No.1 (2023) , 8-17
Suggested Citation
Muangasame K., Tan E. Phygital rural cultural heritage: a digitalisation approach for destination recovery and resilience. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes Vol.15 No.1 (2023) , 8-17. 17. doi:10.1108/WHATT-08-2022-0096 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/81693
Title
Phygital rural cultural heritage: a digitalisation approach for destination recovery and resilience
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Purpose: This study examines a phygital approach to rural cultural heritage tourism, adopted by a rural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat Province, Thailand, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, it investigates a community’s initiatives to amalgamate its physical and digital marketing communications in order to engage with consumers as a strategy for destination recovery and resilience. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative exploratory study involving three stages of action, applying two research approaches: (1) participatory action research (PAR) with Sapphaya’s tourism stakeholders, and (2) social media research utilising netnographic analysis of Sapphaya’s tourism social enterprise social media pages. Findings: The findings indicate that a phygital rural cultural heritage strategy can facilitate the interconnectivity between a destination’s physical and digital dimensions of its cultural heritage tourism product, thereby enhancing its intrinsic value, meaning and experiential perceptions. Specifically, it recommends that a successful community-based phygitalisation strategy requires grassroot engagement across all stages of planning, development, implementation and management of the rural cultural heritage tourism product. Practical Implications: The paper focusses on the cultural heritage tourism strategy adopted by a rural community across the physical-digital-phygital spectrum to augment its sustainable tourism development during a time of crisis. A framework for phygital rural cultural heritage as a strategy for destination resilience and recovery is also proposed. Originality/value: This study adopts a local engagement approach to develop a cooperative community heritage management strategy, based upon local rural capacity building towards digitalisation and empowering innovative partnerships amongst its stakeholders.