Designing Valuable Augmented Reality Tourism Application Experiences

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) has gained increased popularity in the tourism sector, for its ability to create enhanced tourist experiences. This, coupled with the proliferation of technologies has increased pressure for tourism organisations design and add value to tourist experiences. Whilst much research attention has focused on the potential of AR, exploring areas such as adoption, acceptance and usability, there is a lack of research outlining guidelines for the design of valuable AR application tourist experiences. This study uses a small UNESCO recognised museum in the UK, to identify key value adding features for the effective design of AR tourism applications. Adopting a multi-stakeholder approach, fifty interviews were held with five stakeholder groups, revealing four AR design categories; visitor value, organisational value, stakeholder value, economic value. Findings identified these categories should be considered for the effective design and implementation of enhanced tourist experiences, bridging a gap in current research.