Tourists' acceptance of advanced technology-based innovations for promoting arts and culture

Advanced technologies are able to influence tourists' decisions. They can be exploited for attracting touristic flows towards cultural destinations. In particular, virtual tours are new tools based on advanced 3D graphics that can be useful for promoting arts and culture. In this paper, we test users' acceptance of virtual tours as a tool supporting their decision to visit a touristic destination. A new virtual tour has been developed for promoting a site with a high archaeological value in the south of Italy. Acceptance of this system has been tested on a sample of 100 interviewees. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). All the hypotheses were supported indicating the robustness of TAM model for explaining the intention to use virtual tours while deciding on touristic destinations. Results also showed the importance of enjoyment while using the tool to explain acceptance.