DESIGNING EFFECTIVE SIGNAGE SYSTEMS FOR TIBET'S POTALA PALACE: A MIXED-METHOD APPROACH TO ENHANCING TOURIST EXPERIENCE

Every year, the Potala Palace in Tibet is visited by millions of tourists due to its status as a landmark that is recognized all over the world. Nevertheless, the current signage system is not sufficient in guiding tourists, which results in confusion and a decrease in the level of satisfaction experienced by visitors. When it comes to directing visitors to culturally and historically significant areas, having a signage system that is both effective and adequate is absolutely necessary. This study's primary purpose is to evaluate the efficiency of the present signage system, as well as the preferences of tourists and cultural researchers on the improvement of signage, and to determine the level of satisfaction that these individuals have with the signage that is currently in place at Potala Palace. The purpose of this study is to examine the preferences of tourists and their levels of satisfaction regarding the effectiveness of signs by using a mixed-method approach that is based on both qualitative and quantitative data gathering. The findings of the study suggest that the current signage program is severely lacking in terms of meeting the requirements of tourists, particularly with regard to considerations such as clarity, visibility, and cultural sensitivity. This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the findings of the study. At Potala Palace, there were several guests who expressed their desire for more understandable and more contextualized signs. The outcomes of the study indicate that the multimodal signals should receive the utmost attention, particularly when translating into several languages and making use of pictograms that are sensitive to cultural norms. The study suggests that the directions should be designed appropriately, that signs should be used that are easily understood by everyone, and that information should be combined in a number of different languages in order to increase the customers' ability to comprehend what they are seeing at the Potala Palace.