Education in Tourism—Digital Information as a Source of Memory on the Examples of Places Related to the Holocaust in Poland during World War II

Abstract

Tourism is one of the most effective and attractive tools for achieving many goals including educational. Learning and gaining knowledge by traveling have been present in human history for centuries. Education does so well in tourism because it is accompanied by human curiosity about the world. Tourism can teach natural, social, and historical sciences. It is an important tool for learning about the past that influences the present and the future, especially if it is a difficult past such as the memory of the Holocaust. Tourism can help to draw conclusions about the past as long as it contributes to the acquisition of specific knowledge. Considering this role of tourism, it is worth asking when tourism starts? Many authors see the beginning of tourism at the stage of gathering information. The main assumption of this publication can be summarized as the consideration that the quality of an educational tourist product depends on the availability of information, its quality, and the manner in which it is provided. Today, the most important information distribution channel is digital media, including both websites and social media. Well-provided information accelerates the development of a resource, destination, or region; at the same time, information provided incorrectly or a lack of information in the virtual space may be an inhibitor of the development of educational tourism. The aim of the article is to assess the manner of communicating information related to the Holocaust of World War II, which took place in Nazi German-occupied Poland. The study was conducted with the use of qualitative methods—expert assessment and assessment of the information transfer effectiveness based on the scoring method. The research material included existing websites presenting the resources and methods of operation of museums dedicated to the Holocaust located in Poland. During evaluation, particular attention was paid to the scope of information, methods of its transmission, its internationalization, and timeliness of activities, especially in the field of promoting elements of the offer related to education and shaping attitudes. The aim of the research was to organize the official Internet resources, classify them, and discuss the functioning of information on the Holocaust in the virtual space, so as to use the potential of information in the most effective way to create a product for educational tourism.