Virtual environments have the potential to be an important teaching tool for emotionally sensitive issues capable of producing a sense of presence, perspective-taking and introspection in users in a risk-free, rapid feedback experience. In designing such experiences, it is essential that users are regularly engaged in a collaborative design process. However, engaging in design, development, and evaluation can in itself provide a learning experience. Here, the authors present an approach to engaging children in the design, development and evaluation of a virtual learning environment, specifically a serious game, focused on inculcating empathy, ethical reasoning, and reflection for coping with bullying. It was demonstrated that children's involvement not only contributed to an improved virtual environment, but significantly engaging in the design process provided children with a novel and effective learning opportunity.

Virtual environments have the potential to be an important teaching tool for emotionally-sensitive issues capable of producing a sense of presence, perspective-taking and introspection in users in a riskfree, rapid feedback experience. In designing such experiences, it is essential that users are regularly engaged in a collaborative design process. However, engaging in design, development and evaluation can in itself provide a learning experience. Here, we present our approach to engaging children in the design, development and evaluation of a virtual learning environment, specifically a Serious Game, focused on inculcating empathy, ethical reasoning and reflection for coping with bullying. We demonstrate that children’s involvement not only contributed to an improved virtual environment, but significantly, engaging in the design process provided children with a novel and effective learning opportunity. Through using innovative child-centered participatory design practices, this research provides perceptive insights into how engaging children in design can be employed as a learning experience for emotionally-sensitive learning as well as an approach to gathering user design input. The material outlined in this article is directly linked to virtual worlds for positive change— meeting the needs of children, empowering them to be consulted and take responsibility for issues that affect them at school.

This paper discusses leveraging design thinking techniques for involving children in serious game design in Japanese elementary schools. Our action research project approach accomplished two different goals: (1) to inculcate design thinking in pupils, and (2) to sensitize children on bullying victimization. Our approach uses a range of participatory design methods to distil design ideas from children and to support their design thinking aiming to boost children’s creative confidence and develop social and emotional skills. Key findings from our project are: (1) children made valuable design contributions including realistic bullying scenarios, language content, user interface design, storyline progression, character profiles, coping strategies etc., and (2) participatory design and design thinking stimulated ethical reasoning, reflection and empathy in children on bullying victimization. Our approach is unique in the current design thinking landscape, because it moves from designing “thing” (object) to designing “think” (bullying sensitization). Future research should focus on highlighting ways how participatory design and design thinking enrich and complement each other. The significance of our paper stems from the simple standpoint that those participating in a design should gain from participating in the design process. Takeaways for practitioners are: (1) building relationships with stakeholders, especially children, (2) empathy and user research techniques, (2) translating field data into usable insights, (3) idea-generation and rapid concept development, (4) product co-prototyping, (5) user engagement and co-creation, (6) multiple perspectives on effective communication.

Abstract In response to the pandemic, many countries have had multiple lockdowns punctuated by partial freedoms limiting physically being together. In 2020–2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were stressed and exhausted by the challenges of work, home schooling, and barriers to typical childcare arrangements. Children were missing one another, their social lives, and the variety of experiences that the world beyond the home brings. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) offers tried and tested ways to enable children to maintain beyond-household family activities and dynamics. However, it is not viewed as a solution. Instead, as demonstrated through a multiple method study involving a Rapid Evidence Assessment, workshops with 91 teenagers, interviews with 15 experts, a Delphi study with 21 experts, 402 parent questionnaires pre-pandemic, 232 parent questionnaires during the pandemic, and longitudinal interviews with 13 parents during the first UK lockdown in 2020, IVR is not viewed as having value in the home beyond gaming. Results highlight limited consideration of IVR as a way to enhance family life or the home, with a lack of evidence and direction from current research, innovation, and policy. The article empirically demonstrates that experts, teenagers, and parents have limited expectations for VR. Further, with parental resistance to adoption and a lack of ideas or innovations in how IVR could be used, the likelihood of VR-headset adoption remains low as does its potential as a means of educating, entertaining, and socially engaging children and teenagers.

Abstract Our paper describes the new potential for tourism e-services (smartphone apps and enhanced Internet platforms) for promoting the intangible cultural heritage in European destinations using the example of Prague’s Jewish heritage. Although quite a few tourism e-services are present in the tourism market in Prague, their full potential has not been exhausted. The paper shows that one of the ways how the intangible cultural heritage in European destinations can be promoted is through employing the apps for smartphones and tablets involving local myths and legends constituting the backbone of local cultural and religious traditions. Our research is based on the empirical results of the three stages of our own questionnaire survey conducted in Prague in May–August 2013 for assessing the revealed preferences of Prague’s residents and tourists for such apps and novel IT solutions. Our results demonstrate that a potential app should feature a narrative, a possibility to upload additional information, as well as interactive online maps. The app should be offered at both App Store and Android Market Play free of charge with embedded in-app purchases that might reach up to 3 EUR in additional payments. The paper tackles a top-notch field of electronic tourism (or e-tourism) that embeds the mobile technologies and the intangible cultural heritage approach. The results and outcomes might be useful not only for IT developers specialising in digital tourism but also for local stakeholders and residents.

Our paper focuses on eliciting people's attitudes towards EU integration and the adoption of Euro currency in the Czech Republic.Although EU Accession was widely supported and accepted by the Czech citizens prior to 2004, more than 10 years into the EU membership the attitudes to integration have changed considerably.The recent world's economic and financial crisis, the crisis of the Eurozone and the issues with the Greek membership in the Eurozone (the possibility of the "Grexit") have undermined the Euro optimism in many EU Member States that joined the EU during the so-called Eastern Enlargement in 2004.We use the example of the Czech Republic and the representative survey data collected by the Czech Institute of Sociology in 2012-2014 to estimate and describe the attitudes towards the EU integration and Euro adoption.Our results might shed some light on the reasons of Euro pessimism and scepticism and find links with the current economic and political situation.

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a framework for benchmarking the eTourism capability of a destination’s tourism industry, understanding the eTourism capability of a destination’s industry as the contribution that the information and communication technologies (ICT) uptake of that industry makes to its own performance. The impact of ICT in tourism has been suggested through extensive research. Previous work has urged the development of wide-angle studies to enable benchmarking of destinations and their industries. However, relevant research is limited. Macro-level studies in the area tend to focus on a single aspect of technology to evaluate adoption, are not sector-specific nor take into consideration the different levels of contribution that systems may bring to performance. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on tourism, eTourism, benchmarking and technology adoption provided the baseline for developing this benchmarking tool. Findings – The literature supported the selection of key tourism industry sectors, i.e. accommodation establishments, visitor attractions and food and beverage; the most suitable methodology, i.e. intermediary performance measures; and the business characteristics that need being taken into consideration when assessing ICT adoption by tourism businesses, e.g. size, type of establishment and area of location. Research limitations/implications – The framework has not been tested yet. It is based on a review of the literature and needs to be validated through primary research. The framework was developed based on the context of Scotland. Further work should be done to adjust the framework to other destinations worldwide. Practical implications – The framework enables destinations to benchmark the eTourism capability of their industries. Originality/value – It provides a comprehensive framework for benchmarking tourism destinations’ industries, which takes into consideration elements of technology adoption, the characteristics of the tourism industry and the particularities of the different ICT elements.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to utilise commodification for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage in cities by developing interpretative strategies, specifically enabling access to intangible cultural heritage through its tangible parts. Design/methodology/approach In total, three case studies were conducted in the cities of Amsterdam, Genoa and Leipzig, through a workshop cycle with destination and local tourism stakeholders and citizen representatives, to develop interpretative strategies for the cities. Findings The paper identifies tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the three cities, and integrates them into stories and outlines the development of an interpretative strategy for destinations independent from, but aligned with, the current marketing and positioning strategy development level. Research limitations/implications Future research should examine the integration process of interpretative strategies and heritage interpretation of cultural heritage in marketing strategies, and in particular focus on the intangible aspects. Originality/value The article integrates and highlights the value of intangible cultural heritage and interpretation of cultural heritage in general for marketing purposes through the development of an interpretative strategy improving access to destinations' cultural heritage supporting destination management. The article adds to the research discussion of the commodification of cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage is a major contributor to tourism development. Cultural heritage tourism relies heavily on the communication process for attracting visitors and providing them with a satisfactory experience. The tourist encounter can be significantly enhanced through effective and engaging heritage interpretation. This paper argues that there are opportunities for the application of e-Services in the delivery of heritage interpretation through the Internet — optimising results for the fulfilment of both marketing and interpretation purposes. This paper investigates visitor satisfaction with museums, and explores the use of e-Services for both cultural attraction operators and destination managers over a two-stage empirical investigation. Firstly, this study identifies the contribution of heritage interpretation practices to overall visitor satisfaction in museums, and to the best and most memorable experiences during such visits. Secondly, the paper evaluates the integration of e-Services in cultural attraction and destination websites. The results are integrated and developed into practical industry implications for cultural attractions and destinations websites offer of online heritage interpretation.

Tourists are increasingly using the Internet for travel preparation and booking. At the same time tourism organizations are facing increased competition regarding their website offers. Therefore, the aim for tourism organizations and businesses should be to provide more efficient websites in order to gain competitive advantage. This study provides an example of how Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can be used to assess the website’s efficiency of tourism organizations. Input criteria include the linguistic offer, interactivity, and tourism content, and output is defined by number of inquiries and number of website visits. It is argued that efficient organizations should be considered useful benchmarking partners for inefficient organizations in that best practices should be used to identify the potential for improvement.

The tradition of heritage interpretation is moving away from purely conservational and educational goals to an entertainment- and experience-oriented interpretative provision. New technologies are gaining prominence in museums to enhance visitors' mindfulness, subsequent learning outcomes and satisfaction. Extant research literature reflects technology-based heritage interpretation; however, such studies implement predetermined outputs which have never been tested by the demand side. This paper seeks to assess technology-mediated heritage interpretation, merging both theory from the museums management and customer satisfaction literatures, and applying Importance-Performance Analysis. Results reveal that new technology does not represent a substitute for other interpretative applications. Its appropriate use in those museums with a traditional interpretative layout enhances displays' multisensory provision and visitors' perceived interactivity. The use of technology is more appreciated in traditional museums than in those with live interpretation.

This chapter investigates that extent to which pre-defined personality types can be used to enhance the personal relevancy of recommendations provided in a destination recommendation system (DRS). The findings presented in this chapter are based upon a survey of 3525 randomly selected persons who had requested travel information from a Northern Indiana tourism office during summer and fall 2001. The survey comprised a series of questions related to travel style, psychographic characteristics and actual travel behaviour. The findings suggest that travel personality categories can serve not only as a fun way to engage users in the recommendation process but, importantly, as a useful tool in a DRS to easily capture differences among users with respect to their preference for certain activities. The results further suggest that for tourism regions with similar destinations, activities can serve as an efficient route for recommending potential places to visit.

Information search is one of the most common tasks users are performing on the Internet. Especially search engines provide tools to support the user's search process. Continuous improvement of the search engine to provide better results for users is a constant goal. But to do this it's also important understanding the users and their search patterns as well as their needs. This paper gives an overview on different information search patterns within the domain-specific search engine visiteuropeancities.com and implications of the results.

Current efforts in destination recommendation systems research and design are based on the assumption that user preferences have to be captured in the most accurate way possible to be able to provide useful recommendations. However, leading the user through a series of mind-puzzling diagnostic questions is often cumbersome and, therefore, discourages use. This article explores travel personality categories as a possible shortcut to classifying users. The results of this study suggest that travel personality types selected by the survey respondents can, indeed, be matched up with certain travel behaviors. Implications for future research as well as systems design are presented.

This paper describes and discusses the application of various state-of-the-art techniques to improve the design and usability of a web application in the B2C area. It is illustrated by the ongoing project of developing an intelligent destination recommender system (DieToRecs). These techniques comprise four particular evaluation steps: 1. a concept test, 2. a cognitive walkthrough, 3. a heuristic evaluation, and 4. an experimental evaluation by system users. Each section (i.e. evaluation step) addresses three areas of interest: a) the starting situation and objective, b) a short description of the applied method and the procedure, c) a brief summary of the results and the lessons learned for the general use of evaluative techniques.