The effect of digital technologies in transforming on visitors’ sense of place in historical museums

With the development of advanced technologies, historical museums have used digital tools to enhance visitors' experiences in various ways. Previous studies showed that compared with traditional static exhibition, digital tools can contribute to visitors' immersive experiences in historical museums. However, there is limited research to explored how historical museums as a kind of cultural tourism destination affect visitors' sense of place when supported by digital tools. Regarding this research gap, this study explored how digital technologies affect the sense of place of Jämtland in the context of historical museums from visitors' perspective. According to the key elements that create a sense of place, this study explored visitors' sense of place by examining how they formulate their place attachment and place identity when engaging with digital tools in historical museums. Jamtli museum in Östersund, Sweden, was chosen as a case study area because it has diverse digital tools and is still updating its digital project. Data was collected through several approaches. Including participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that the digital tools can significantly help visitors to formulate their place attachment and place identity in relation to the historical place that the museum displays. Also, the impact of digital tools is various for different types of visitors.