Visitors' experiences of smart heritage tourism in Ipoh Old Heritage Town: The role of smart city initiatives

Mohamad Aiman Irfan Lutfir Rahman, Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rashid, Apriyan Dinata

Abstract


Nowadays, changing visitor demands for high-tech services and enhanced experiences require new approaches to tourism development. Smart tourism arrives at a timely moment to offer innovation-driven technology; however, challenges in meeting visitors’ needs for technology adoption arise, while cost efficiency and limited information about visitors’ demographics pose additional constraints. Ipoh Old Heritage Town is preparing for smart heritage tourism to boost its popularity and attract more visitors and investors. Inspired by these challenges, this paper aims to evaluate visitors’ experiences with smart heritage tourism elements in Ipoh Old Heritage Town within the context of smart city initiatives. The study employed a questionnaire administered using Google Forms to 100 participants. The analysis of perceived experiences (perceptions) was based on a 6-point Likert scale. The findings reveal that the visitors are moderately to highly satisfied with 21 assessed elements, with mean values ranging from 3.57 to 4.80. Those elements include internet coverage (4.80), e-hailing services (4.72), road signs (4.71) and trash bins (4.43). No element was rated as highly satisfied (a mean above 5.17), thus indicating room for interventions, in particular at the development planning review stages. This study contributes to empirical research on smart heritage tourism in Malaysia, benefiting tourism stakeholders including visitors, businesses and the local community by providing insights into the importance of visitors’ perceptions and engagements and ensuring the long-term sustainability of historical building assets.

 

Keywords: Heritage buildings, IoT, Ipoh Old Heritage Town, smart heritage tourism, smart city initiatives


Keywords


Heritage buildings, IoT, Ipoh Old Heritage Town, smart heritage tourism, smart city initiatives

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References


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