Past for Future – museums as a digitalized “interaction platform” for value co-creation in tourism destinations

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how digital technologies can transform the museum into an “interaction platform” able to play a key role in the value co-creation processes of the tourism destination.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applies the “co-creation through interactions” perspective by Ramaswamy and Ozcan. Empirically, the paper is based on the methodology of single case study identified in MArTA, the well-known National Archeological Museum of Taranto (South Italy). Data collection has been implemented through interviews with key informants and secondary data related to online interviews, press release and reports.FindingsFindings provide empirical evidence about the contribution that a digitalization strategy can create a “museum as a platform” in which the interactions between the museum, its stakeholders and other co-creation elements (interfaces, artifacts and processes) bring benefits in terms of tourism experiences and sustainable development of the destination.Practical implicationsThis research highlights the cultural changes and the actions that museum management has to implement to properly benefit from digitalization and to transform the museum into a reference point for reflection and innovation.Originality/valueElements of originality can be found in (1) the exploration of the wide spectrum of benefits and innovations that digital technologies can offer to the museum-mediated interactions and (2) the contribution to the understanding of the museum as a digitalized “interaction platform” capable of supporting the processes of co-creation of value in the complex network of actors and objects of a tourism destination.