Old Wisdom, New Skills: Resistance to Change and Technology Adoption in Cultural Heritage

In the last decade, technological innovations have impacted the cultural industries in unprecedented ways. Not only new technologies provide fresh opportunities for the promotion of cultural heritage, they also provide very good solutions for audience engagement. Among the cultural industries, some important results arise from museums and historical and cultural heritage sites in which numerous examples flourish with the use of ICT to provide a more comprehensive experience for visitors. Technology, as is of common knowledge, has a positive impact on demand; nonetheless, its impact on the offer is less clear. Cultural organizations are not always ready to adopt technological innovations, as personnel may lack the required competencies. For example, tour guides are a category that may face the biggest challenge. This challenge may result in a better definition of their roles or, on the other hand, tour guides may not be able to position themselves in the new technology-driven competitive scenario. What would the impact of these opposite outcomes be, in the cultural industry, in terms of audience engagement and performances? Our paper addresses this question by analyzing the self- perceptions of a panel of tour guides who are challenged by technological innovations. Results show that different clusters of tour guides can be detected and that different scenarios may be envisioned.