The Role Of New Technologies To Research Consolidated Tourist Attractions: The Case Of The Mummy Museum, Guanajuato, Mexico

In recent decades, tourism phenomenon is playing a more decisive role in social, economic, functional and territorial terms. Tourist destinations are continuously working to maintain a position in the world market, adapting their products and services to the emerging needs of the demand. In that sense, great efforts are being made to take advantage of the resources at their hand (natural and cultural). Over the years, tourism practices have been diversified leading to the emergence of new management forms that complement the traditional sun, sand and sea product, and thus expanding the scope. The best example of the former are the so called heritage destinations; these are cities with relevant historical heritage reflected in monumental landmarks (such as monuments, museums, architecture, etc.), that have played a key role in the creation of cultural tourism. The cities designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Cities have become the main reference of this sort of tourism. Among these, Guanajuato stands out in Mexico since 1988, meeting the four criteria related to its wonderful landscape, its location, the heritage of past mining activities, and its overwhelming Baroque architecture. Nowadays, Guanajuato welcomes more than 1,300,000 visitors every year, lured by the heritage attractions, such as the case of the Museo de las Momias (Museum of the mummies), which possess more than 35 years of history, contributes with 10% of the total revenue of the city and receives approximately 600,000 visitors per year (Ruiz, 2013). This article analyses and reflects on the role of new technologies to investigate the conflicts experienced by the visitors to this Museum. The former involves a series of issues related to the mismanagement of flows of visitors, carrying capacity, visitor experience, and so on. Through the application of both, qualitative and quantitative research techniques, this study sheds some light on important issues of this case, not only in terms of tourist attraction’s management, but also -and perhaps more importantly- the destination management as a whole. The main conclusion is that new technologies can contribute not only to better understand the issues behind the management of tourist attractions but also to generate useful information for decision-makers to devise appropriate strategies that improve the visitor experience.