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

Purpose - This 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/approach - The 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. Findings - Findings 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 implications - This 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/value - Elements 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.