Tourism 3.0 and archaeology: approaching tourists’ generated-content of World Heritage sites

Abstract

Archaeology is not the main focus of local governments’ strategy for tourism in many Spanish World Heritage contexts defined by non-archaeological criteria; but, are there alternative ways of engaging with it? The surge of 2.0 websites has upturned the traditional direction of tourism discourse from governmental bodies and marketing organizations to the audiences and participants, that is, the tourists. The tourists themselves produce the website contents (. photographs, facts, experiences…) that are then shared with the wider online communities of prospective and present tourists. What can these collaborative platforms tell us about archaeology in World Heritage destinations? Through the assessment of this user-generated content on a 2.0 websites (TripAdvisor), this paper critically addresses how archaeology is presented in fifteen non-archaeological World Heritage Sites in Spain and reflects on whether 2.0 websites may provide new opportunities for promotion. Local and regional museums, one of the most widespread elements created by governmental cultural policies, become an opportunity to generate new contents themselves while using these spaces to attract tourists to archaeological values. The issue of authenticity and the need to address experiential tourismare added potentials for the use of 2.0 websites as useful sources of information for heritage tourism planning.