Storytelling in heritage tourism: an exploration of co-creative experiences from a tourist perspective

• Autor(a) principal: Beevor, Meghan Claire
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17810
• topic: Storytelling; Co-creation; Heritage tourism; New museology; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais

Heritage attractions and museums are under pressure to adapt to the needs of experience-seeking tourists. If they are to remain competitive, managers must acknowledge the visitor’s role as a co-creator and facilitate heritage experiences that privilege co-creation between the experience provider and consumer. Storytelling has been posited as a co-creative tool that increases consumer engagement and leads to memorable tourist experiences. As such, storytelling presents itself as an accessible and effective way to offer experiences that are more aligned with the expectations of the modern heritage tourist. However, a lack of knowledge exists regarding storytelling’s definition, implementation, and impact in heritage tourism settings. This work addresses these problems by identifying the various elements of heritage storytelling, providing a practical example of how these elements can be implemented in a real service context, and evaluating the impact of storytelling on visitors. Based on a review of the literature, the author created an experimental methodological framework that breaks down heritage storytelling into its various elements. Using this framework, a “storytelling tour” was designed and implemented at the Islamic Museum of Tavira. This tour was then tested on three groups of participants, who then participated in focus groups to share their thoughts on the storytelling experience. Focus group data was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis in NVivo. Data analysis revealed that, overall, participants received the “storytelling tour” positively. Regarding storytelling’s impact on the visitor’s experience, three central themes were identified: emotional engagement, imagination, and memorability. Participants also made suggestions as to how the experience could have been improved considering factors of authenticity and participation. These findings solidify storytelling’s relevance in heritage tourism contexts, as well as offer a preliminary guide as to how to implement storytelling in the experience design of a heritage attraction or museum.