Social mechanisms to engage visitors in cultural heritage monuments preservation

In the outdoor environment, cultural heritage monuments are exposed to several natural and anthropogenic factors that cause their deterioration. Increasing urbanization and mass tourism exacerbate the situation; however, tourism is also an important tool for enhancing and preserving cultural heritage, especially through contemporary information-communication technologies that provide additional opportunities for visitor engagement (Ismagilova et al. 2015, Ursache 2015). Moreover, there is a trend towards gamification of experiences for visitors to cultural heritage sites (Cirulis et al. 2015, Xu et al. 2017), including location-based or geolocation games (Maia et al. 2017).

To better understand the perceptions and values of different visitor groups regarding cultural heritage and to develop a strategy for engaging target groups in heritage conservation, we conducted four focus groups in two Slovenian cities. Participants were selected using a screening questionnaire that asked about their travel habits and use of mobile apps when visiting monuments. In both cities, there was one focus group with users of geolocation games and one with non-users. In all groups, topics of mobile photography of cultural heritage sites, use of visitor apps for specific locations, and geolocation apps were discussed.

The findings helped us to understand patterns of mobile technology use and develop a proposal for a social mechanism to engage the public in cultural heritage preservation in the form of a game to increase visitor interaction with cultural heritage and promote it on social media. The findings were applied to the development of an information plate and informational videos for the outdoor bronze statue of the composer Giuseppe Tartini in Piran, Slovenia.