(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

The increase in extreme weather confirms that in order to slow down climate change, unnecessary travel must be reduced. Consequently, tourism industry has an obligation to start launching more environmentally friendly travel concepts and replace destructive charter tourism until sufficient emission-free vehicles that run on electricity become norm. Developing Staycation into innovative and attractive destinations that are in demand will yield sustainable results as all fossil-free available domestic travel will reduce the carbon footprint of tourism. A successful Staycation can be to revive and highlight forgotten cultural heritage that represents unexpected intangible treasures that will therefore be exciting to explore. Virtual Tourism (VT) with digital media such as Augmented or Virtual Reality (AR / VR) can effectively communicate storytelling, but temporary hidden time layers and IndianaJones Effects, which are so important in creating thriving tourism. Virtual tourism (VT) can reduce CO2 emissions thanks to its ability as a Staycation Revive (SR) and convey the lost epochs of the intangible cultural heritage as a clearly perceived reality. The study focuses on two Swedish medieval castles, which are unclear and intangible because they were partially demolished in the 18th century. Still, in order for them to be revived historically correctly as a perceived reality, a variety of digital techniques were tested. To assess future tourists’ experiences of the sites, both in their natural state and with digital interventions, qualitative interviews were held with professionals and laymen on two different occasions. For a Virtual Tourism Staycation revive (VTSr) to be a cost-effective concept, it was crucial to digitally convert and reuse existing and archived artifacts from the castle sites. Findings show that not only Augmented or Virtual Reality set up effects can transmit enticing historical experiences of intangible cultural heritage, also less advanced digital solutions is enough for Staycation to become desirable tourism.