Cultural Tourism: A study on museums and the Internet

Abstract:

Museums have always been closely linked to tourism, as they are considered relevant cultural attractions. In this scenario, studies on tourism and museums have proven essential to understanding the prominent role that museums have assumed in the tourism industry. Museums are increasingly using the Internet to promote themselves and attract visitors. The aim of this research, with data collection in June 2017, was to classify the top ten ranked museums by the website TripAdvisor. The most visited museums in Brazil were identified in 2016, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Museums of the Ministry of Culture. Next, we identified the best-evaluated museum by TripAdvisor, making a correlation between the two. The method used to assess the museums' websites considered three typologies: Electronic brochure, museum in the virtual world, and interactive museum. The websites were analyzed using images, photos, videos, access to exhibitions, information retrieval, and research and educational area. The results of the survey showed that the Brazilian museums evaluated already have their own websites, with most of them being classified as “museums in the virtual world” websites.

Keywords:
Museum; Tourism; Types of museum website