Tourism Information Services Design Based on Participatory Approach: The Case of Cultural Heritage Tourism in Japan

The purpose of this study is to discuss the design of new tourism information services through a case of the Hiraizumi world heritage site in Japan that was registered in 2011. As it promotes tourism through the world heritage registration, Hiraizumi is operating on the major premise that it will safeguard its cultural heritage while also placing importance on developing systems for accepting a diverse range of tourists using the universal design perspective. When doing so there are limits to facility refurbishment and infrastructure development so the town focused its attention on support for information aspects, or in other words support using ICT. Going forward as individual travel becomes more mainstream the ways in which new value is created in cultural tourism are likely to include (1) transmission of the value of the cultural heritage in collaboration with humanities researchers and (2) development of tourist areas in which excursions on foot are possible and information transmission. Most of the cultural heritage of Hiraizumi has been lost. Hiraizumi’s value will not be experienced by simply examining the extant remains. Their recreation and visualization through extended and composite reality technology is anticipated, not only in the academic study of cultural properties, but also in promoting tourism. The strongest demand is for reconstruction and visualization of archaeological sites using augmented reality/mixed reality technologies. Researchers and technicians tend to focus on the pursuit of reality and historical accuracy but when using these technologies for tourism the care should be taken over the cost-effectiveness of system operation in particular. Also, the approach of grasping general tour excursion trends from big data in tourist guide services using mobile phones, and linking that to environmental maintenance of tour sites to be enjoyed by walking, is very interesting from the point of view of community development. We discuss the role and possibilities of new tourism information services based on participatory approach.