Digital artefacts of rural tourism: the case study of Poland

Abstract

Purpose Rural tourism facilities in Poland were very keen on amateur websites to promote their hospitality services from 2000 to 2018. In most cases, the websites were nonprofessional, hosted on free servers and made by family members or friends of the holding. After search engine algorithms changed in 2015–2019, the websites started to go extinct on a large scale; they were deleted and often replaced with a more modern design and a commercial domain. These resources offered a rare opportunity to gain insight into rural tourism, rural changes and socioeconomic and cultural phenomena. Design/methodology/approach The paper’s objective is to demonstrate with an analysis of archived Polish rural tourism websites that digital cultural artefacts are generated in rural areas. The study was an analysis of selected development attributes of rural tourism websites found in the Internet Archive. The analysis involved those attributes that are important for determining whether a website or content can be considered digital cultural heritage assets. Findings The conclusions demonstrate that rural digital cultural heritage is a set of digital artefacts created in rural areas with their characteristics. Rural digital artefacts are records of ICT, infrastructure, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic changes. Originality/value The “digital assets” of rural areas are yet to be discussed in the context of rural cultural heritage, as a set of artefacts created in these areas and characteristic of them.