Post-Covid transformation of cultural tourism

Abstract Tourism value of a modern tourist destination depends on managing and organizing social, historical, cultural and natural resources into a unique tourist attraction. Changing trends in cultural tourism and technological development affect the creation of new cultural tourism products and channels of their promotion. Virtual and augmented reality offer new ways of promotion and consumption of cultural tourism services. Destinations adapt to these changes by creating a tourism offer in accordance with sustainable development. Furthermore, tourist destinations needed to adapt to Covid-19 pandemic conditions and therefore started using new trends in virtual and augmented reality. Virtual reality and digital technologies are beneficial in creating and implementing new forms of cultural tourism, especially in the given circumstances of new travel rules and changed tourist expectations, with an emphasis on social distance, preserving the health of tourists and local population and protecting the environment. The aims of this paper are to define the changes in cultural tourism caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and explore the effect of new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality on cultural tourism development. The paper also aims to determine the possibilities for cultural tourism development regarding new trends. Historical method, desk research, analysis and synthesis have been used for the purpose of this paper. Paper contribution is reflected in applying new trends which resulted in changes in tourist behaviour in pandemic conditions, as well as insights into the possibilities of developing different models of cultural tourism consumption in accordance with new technological achievements.