The aim of the paper is to provide practical insights into a cultural tourism co-creation platform for building a service platform ecosystem from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives. Drawing on the service dominant logic and service ecosystem literature, the paper provides a comprehensive literature review and multiple stakeholder perspectives on the construction of a cultural tourism co-creation platform for the digital practice of Mogao Grottos. Four key actors of cultural tourism co-creation platforms from a service ecosystem perspective are identified, including platform owners, platform partners, technological providers, and platform customers, and the paper explores the actions and strengths of these actors. To the authors’ knowledge, this study represents one of the early attempts to investigate the possible consequences of building a cultural tourism co-creation platform for destination organization management.
1 Introduction
A service ecosystem refers to “…a relatively self-contained, self-adjusting system of resource-integrating actors connected by shared institutional arrangements and mutual value creation through exchange” [1]. Economic sociology and institutional economics offer a theoretical lens, this definition emphasizes the significance of the institution in value creation. Other literature has considered the platform ecosystem as a connected, and creative network, and mainly concerns multiple stakeholders, including platform providers, customers, and technological stakeholders [2]. An ecosystem perspective inspires our research priorities should adhere to “… long-term large problems that go beyond individual customer satisfaction and short-term financial performance to encompass the total value creation system” [3].
Practitioners from the tourism and hospitality industries have stepped into a way of building digital services. For example, managers and frontline workers employ digital tools to improve their customer experience management [4‐6], such as ordering meals using a smartphone and purchasing tickets via apps, and also employ digital-twin technology to monitor the automation process [7]. Such digital service practices are identified as the early stage of digitalization services [8]. Moreover, the extant research mainly focuses on these digital applications on customers’ responses [9‐11]. Although the extant research has examined the multiple stakeholders’ perspectives on the service robot’s adoption [12], limited research has focused on more than two stakeholders’ perspectives on digital services in the tourism and hospitality industries from a service ecosystem perspective. Hence, guided by the service ecosystems perspectives, this research elucidates a pathway for building a cultural tourism co-creation platform. The cultural-co-creation platform in the study is defined as the network of actors in an ecosystem that co-created digital experiences for customers through all actors’ strengths and actions.
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Guided by the available literature on the service platform ecosystem, this study proposes a framework for designing a tourism co-creation platform for tourism destinations from a service platform ecosystem perspective. We propose that a co-creation platform has three important research questions: 1) What are the diverse types of actors? 2) What are the roles and actions of multiple actors in building the cultural tourism co-creation platform? 3) What are the kinds of values co-created from the cultural tourism co-creation platform?
2 Literature Review
2.1 Service-Dominant Logic and Co-creation Platform
From the standpoint of service logic perspectives, the concept of co-creation processes entails the active involvement of the customer as a co-creator of value, while the provider assumes the role of a facilitator in enabling the production and delivery of claimed value [13, 14]. Following this logic, tech companies should embrace the value of co-creation in service innovation like the cultural tourism co-creation platform [15], thus means understanding the customers’ practices and how customers perceive the multiple customer contact points in the platform [16, 17]. There are several co-creation values (e.g., unitarian value, emotional value, and social value) to identify in the interactions between suppliers and customers [18].
Co-creation platform refers to the formation of multiple actors’ interactions [15]. For example, platform owner’s and platform customer processes combine into a collaborative process and all actors can actively impact each other’s procedures and results. Guided by a co-creation platform, destination management organizations (DMOs) can have a chance to chance to interact with the value creation of customers through direct interactions. DMOs can have the power to actively and immediately impact value accomplishment, keeping their word [15, 19].
2.2 Service Ecosystem Perspective
The value-creation process has been considered a dynamic and interactive process through multiple actors’ actions in the tourism and hospitality discipline [20]. Unlike a firm-centered focus that emphasizes value exchange as the major type of value, the customer-centered view focuses on value in use during consumer-firm interactions and common actors’ actions [21]. In accordance with the principles of service-dominant logic, the value co-creation process incorporates the service ecosystem perspective, wherein different stakeholders actively participate and contribute to the process [22].
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The existing body of research has utilized the service ecosystem approach to examine the dynamic process of value co-creation from the standpoint of service design and service innovation. Baron, and Patterson [23] explored innovation practices for less food waste from a service ecosystem perspective. Brodie, Fehrer [24] defined actor engagement in networks of multiple actors and clarified the concept’s future research direction. Shin [20] reviewed the service robot research from a service ecosystem perspective and analyzed the relationships between service robots and different actors. Specifically, four actors are identified in building a cultural tourism co-creation platform: platform owners, platformer partners, technological providers, and platform customers. Taking a case study of Moga Grottoes, the research is among the first studies to empirically explore the multiple actors’ actors’ roles and actions through their co-creation interactions from the destination level.
3 Methodology
Qualitative research methodology was employed in order to address the research questions. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data from stakeholders. Purposive sampling, which refers to the selection of participants who are most likely to access appropriate and useful information [25], was used in selecting the target participants. The target interview participants were recruited from Dunhuang Cultural and Creative Company, Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management, Tencent, and customers, which are multiple stakeholders responsible for the digital Dunhuang project. Table 1 states the characteristics of all participants.
The interview was conducted in August 2023, both offline and online in Dunhuang, China. The audio was recorded upon consent from the participants. The data was analyzed using content analysis. The data was coded following the systematic classification process recommended by Hsieh and Shannon [26]. Our research focuses on the exploration of types of practitioners, which are identified through a multi-round coding method. Our primary focus was on employing open coding methodology to generate codes throughout the initial phase of coding, whereby researchers carefully reviewed each review. Abstract codes are derived through iterative analysis of the reviews. Next, we proceeded to engage in axial coding within the framework of the second-cycle method. The focus of this cycle revolved around the consolidation of comparable codes into categories, wherein the coders “fit the piece of the data puzzle together” [27]. The entirety of the procedure was completed by two coders. In conclusion, we employed selective coding [27] to establish connections between categories in order to identify a central concept: a cultural tourism co-creation platform. To instill credibility and trustworthiness in the research, We established a distinct connection by utilizing Homburg, Xu, Hazée’s [2] dynamic service ecosystem system while modifying the research framework among actors, actions, and strengths. In order to enhance the reliability and integrity of the findings of the research, different techniques were employed, such as triangulation and peer debriefing. The improvement of researcher triangulation was achieved through the involvement of two separate researchers (the primary author and secondary coders), with the aim of ensuring the coding results’ reliability and consistency [28]. The examination of the study outcomes involved the inclusion of two peer debriefers. The data analysis and results were evaluated by the second author, who offered assistance and critical suggestions.
Table 1.
Characteristic of participants
ID
Participant Background
Working time
(years)
Affiliation
P1
Associate Head of Department
14
Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management
P2
Associate Head of Department
18
Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management
P3
Department Manager
10
Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management
P4
Project Manager
5
Tencent
P5
Associate Head
14
Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management
P6
Staff
2
Cultural and Creative Company
P7
Customer
1
Student
P8
Customer
0.5
Student
P9
Customer
0.5
Self-employed
P10
Customer
0.5
Self-employed
4 Findings and Discussion
Four actors and their roles in building a cultural tourism co-creation platform were identified: 1) platform owner: collect image data and shares resources with other actors, 2) platform partners: co-create the cultural products through user-centered design thinking, 3) technological provider: empowers the digital platform construction through technology compacity, 4) platform customers: engage actively in co-creation platforms through phygital experience. Table 2 states the different actors and their roles and actions in building a cultural tourism co-creation platform.
4.1 Platform Owner: Collect Image Data and Share Resources with Other Actors
Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management is the owner of the platform and is open to obtaining resources, including digital images of grottoes, architecture, and murals. In 2006, Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management established the digital center which was renamed the Institute for the Digitization of Cultural Relics in 2014. The institute is in charge of digitizing information regarding both fixed and movable cultural treasures so that it may be collected, processed, stored, transmitted, exchanged, and shown. As of 2023, data collection for more than 255 caves has been completed.
“We established the Digital Center in 2006 and then devoted ourselves to the preservation of grottoes, in which digitalization is the direction of our efforts, after more than 10 years of development, our Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management has been in the advanced stage of digitalization, during this period, we have maintained an open mind and sought external cooperation to promote the sustainable use of Dunhuang culture” from P2.
The interviewees state that Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management continues to open digital cultural resources for society, calling on various stakeholders to promote Mogao culture. Therefore, they created a collaborative platform to share our digital images of architecture for organizations and other people to use. For example, in the online channel, they developed the digital Dunhuang mini-programs and Dunhuang digital Dunhuang Hidden Scripture Cave with Tencent (one of the largest technology providers in China). In the offline channel, they authorized their digital cultural resources for Dunhuang Cultural and Creative Company, then the designer from the company develops creative souvenirs based on these digital images, meanwhile, Respondents state that Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management also engages in the design process because they have expertized in Dunhuang element. Except for this, Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management also independently designs its own cultural products. The priority in designing cultural products for Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management is to promote the Dunhuang culture by developing its own cultural products but considering the customers’ needs.
“We first have to screen what things and elements in our Dunhuang Grottoes, not only an element, not only the image, but also the cultural meaning of the meaning, we want to make a thing that can be promoted, and then we combine with the third party, let the third party develop, at the same time, we also have a part of our own design, because we have our own brand.” from P5
“As a cultural institution, Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management is a unit carrying this mission of the state, so our primary purpose in making cultural and creative products is definitely not to make money, we cannot do this kind of thing that loses money, because after all, the design of cultural and creative products needs to be combined with the local society, so our primary consideration is culture, and culture is the inheritance and transformation and collision of culture and art.” from P5
“When we design cultural and creative products, we don’t want Dunhuang to always be the kind of high-minded, difficult to approach, or very obscure in the hearts of young people, but still consider the aesthetics and needs of young people.” from P6.
4.2 Platform Partners: Co-create the Cultural Products Through User-Centered Design Thinking
The company, social organization, and art creator are the platform partners. The role of these organizations is to design a creative product. Huawei is one of the key partners in cocreate with Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management, designing a three-dimensional nine-colored deer, which accesses platform customers. Also, individuals can apply for Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management to use these digital images, and they can design art products using these images. More importantly, they can post these works on the platform through the Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management verification. Besides, social organizations, such as universities, and schools, can use these images to teach students. Therefore, the platform partners are multiple, which helps with diversified cultural product co-creation based on the Dunhuang Culture.
“In 2020, we partnered with Huawei group to create a Huawei AR map, visitors can use the mobile phones we provide to look outside the grotto to see some mural images in the grotto, including nine-colored deer, flying sky, etc., to provide visitors with an immersive technology experience” from P1.
“We can license to different groups, such as schools, and art creation institutions about Dunhuang murals and other materials, they can create their own, and after completing the creation, they can freely choose to upload to the platform, to give more consumers choices, but also to get benefits.” From P2.
4.3 Technological Provider: Empower the Platform Construction and Operation Through Technology Compacity
Tencent is the platform technological provider, the role of the organization is to provide technological support. For example, with the help of Dunhuang providing a solution for the digitization of Dunhuang assets, Tencent used blockchain technology to provide a reliable base for creating, purchasing, and verifying digital products.
“The project of the material library, you can understand the product that we jointly created with the Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management, it does not mean that I may only be involved in a part, but that we have created a new industry solution from scratch. At that time, we discussed with the institute that the cultural museum industry is the digitization of cultural relics assets, and where its pain points are, they told us that the pain point was that they wanted to open up, but they did not know how to protect it, the first pain point.” from P4
Besides, Tencent is Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management’s strategic partner with the Cultural Heritage Digital Creative Technology joint lab. In the past two years, the lab has created key cultural platforms and products. For example, an avatar named Jiayao is used for tourism live streaming, etc., now the avatar can be used as an online television program.
Moreover, Tencent employed gaming technology to design the digital Dunhuang Hidden Scripture Cave, which is among the first business actions to use gaming technology for cultural service innovation.
“The project of the material library, you can understand the product that we jointly created with the Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management, it does not mean that I may only be involved in a part, but that we have created a new industry solution from scratch. At that time, we discussed with the institute that the cultural museum industry is the digitization of cultural relics assets, and where its pain points are, they told us that the pain point was that they wanted to open up, but they did not know how to protect it, the first pain point.” from P4
“We just happened to have a strategic cooperation between the Dunhuang Mogao Grottos Management and our Tencent to set up a joint technology laboratory, so we used the ability of Tencent Interactive Entertainment of our game group to create this virtual human to help the researchers of the branch to create this virtual human.” from P4
4.4 Platform Customers: Engage Actively in Co-creation Platforms Through Pygital Experiences
Tourists and people interested in Mogao Grottos culture are platform customers, they are active users of the co-creation platforms, Meanwhile, they can purchase items from the Dunhuang digital material library for personal use, also engage with platforms to experience virtual caves accessed through personalized avatars (e.g., Dunhuang Digital Hidden Scripture Cave project), and these platforms provide new touchpoints for the customer. Hence, such endeavors can inspire customers to explore Dunhuang Mago Grottos physically. Take the Dunhuang Digital Hidden Scripture Cave project as an example, The respondents perceived a higher level of personalization when they accessed the platform [29], which improved their immersive digital experience. Moreover, in the pre-trip stage, such a digital platform is considered a virtual product for people who can’t physically visit Dunhuang Mago Grottos, offering knowledge introduction. During the trip, respondents stated that some touchpoints or context from the platform can be cued when they physically see Mago Grottos, and they have an emotional connection with these touchpoints, such as murals, which have a positive impact on their physical experience, even if they have a phygital experience [30].
“The design of this digital Hidden Gold Cave project is very interesting, through the design of this gamification, we can understand the history of the Hidden Gold Cave, we see the cave on the ground to provide a very good knowledge of the pavement, and then in this space, I can freely choose the items we want to see, and we are able to choose our personalized avatars to enter the virtual space, which greatly enriches our experience”-from P7.
“When I visit the cave, I think of the scene where I traveled to that place in the game, and it makes me feel as if the artifact is not just an object in front of you, it seems to talk and tell me some story.”-from P8.
Table 2.
A overview of actors’ roles and actions on service ecosystem properties
Actors
Main activities
Example
Platform owner
Data collection and research on caves, Open for resources for actors, build a loyal relationship with customers and technological providers
Institute for the Digitization of Cultural Relics
Platform partners
Provide creative design services
Huawei, Dunhuang cultural and Creative company or social organizations
Technological provider
Provide technological support, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, blockchain, and avatar
Tencent culture and tourism
Platform Customers
Purchase products and behave in the virtual world
Mogao tourists or people interested in Mogao culture
4.5 Searching for Cultural Tourism Co-creation Ecosystem with Chinese Characteristics: A Mogao Grotto’s Example
While actors and roles of cultural tourism co-creation platforms from a service ecosystem perspective have been explored, their interaction and the effect of such actors on value co-creation are not enough to understand these practices. The introduction of modern western-constructed co-creation practices links with the service ecosystem, essentially exploring new forms of destination practices and behaviors that modify China’s co-creation platform construction from a service ecosystem perspective. Thus, guided by the third-order emergence approach [32], we proposed a new service ecosystem framework (Fig. 1). In general, there are two main characteristics that the cultural tourism co-creation ecosystem in China should draw much attention. One of those is the emergence of new value cocreation through the ecosystem is a goal-directed behavior [32]. The main goal of building the cultural tourism co-creation p is to promote the Dunhuang culture and its motivations to influence multiple actors’ actions. Achieving the goal is not simple, since values of emergence are diverse through the service ecosystem properties, including cultural value, technological value, educational value, creative value, and emotional value.
Although these values exchanged from multiple actors of Mogao grottos are not inclusive of all the cultural tourism destination practices, they present actions of Chi-na’s destination management organization to boost the emergence of these values through the ecosystems, these values are worth exploring because China’s DMO’s efforts can provide a guideline to search for new cultural tourism co-creation ecosystem.
1)
Cultural value. The findings reveal that the new service innovations (e.g., digital hidden scriptures) and cultural products have boosted the cultural value of Dunhuang Mogao. For example, consumers who experienced these services expressed their positive attitudes toward their cultural values. Also, Mogao Grottos management states that such innovative practices promote the Dunhuang culture for tourists through these new touchpoints.
2)
Technological value. As a technological provider, Tencent is striving for an emerging area to exert its technological value. Moreover, Tencent’s vision is to help with the revival of traditional Chinese culture through its technological capacity. Hence, respondents stated that Mogao grottos provide a testing area for Tencent’s technological capacity. In addition, the management of the Mogao grottos has also made efforts to enhance their data collection practices pertaining to the digital imaging of the grottos.
3)
Educational value. The opening of digital images to the faculty at the university can provide a vivid aspect of the art in Dunhuang, such as the nine-colored deer. These public resources offer a genuine representation complete with scientific facts gleaned from the experts at Mogao Grottos. These academics are able to give lectures in which they elaborate on aspects of the Magao. Students find themselves motivated as a result to either visit the Dunhuang Grottos in person or investigate them electronically. Even yet, a few of them have been inspired to play a part in the administration of the Mogao grottos.
4)
Creative value. The symbolic significance of new cultural product design was highlighted. Cultural Creative Center respondents said we stressed the importance of our cultural products’ creative value. The different phases of the cocreation process gave rise to every aspect of the final product, from the selection of Dunhuang materials to the debate over rough sketches. We also consult with Dunhuang culture specialists to acquire insight into the meaning of elements during the product design stage, according to respondents from a cultural and creative company.
5)
Emotional value. The introduction of novel service innovations, such as digital hidden scripture, has the potential to enhance the emotional value experienced by customers. According to the respondents, gamification offers a means through which individuals may engage with and explore narratives and historical events from the past. This interactive approach is perceived as both entertaining and enjoyable. Furthermore, we have the option to select our genuine Dunhuang elements at no cost, thereby facilitating the process of designing our artwork. The scientific explanations behind these elements may evoke a sense of curiosity regarding the Mogao grottos.
Fig. 1.
The framework of the cultural co-creation ecosystem of Dunhuang Mogao Grottos
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5 Conclusion, Limitation, and Further Research
In the past twenty years, the extant research in value creation has emphasized the customers’ focus on customer-firm interactions to advance our understanding of customer’s roles and actions in this experience economy [14, 16, 31]. A common limitation of service-dominant logic arises from a lack of role of the institution in the value co-creation process [1]. Hence, A service ecosystem perspective should be paid more academic attention to clearly understand the mechanism of actors’ coordination and cooperation [1, 32]. This study contributes to answering the research direction not only to empirically investigate actors’ roles and actions from a service ecosystem perspective, as responding to the call for research in the literature [2] but to consider the service ecosystem through a case study of destination. To this end, we propose the framework for the ecosystem in regard to the cultural tourism co-creation platform. The novel framework emphasizes the role of digital technologies in empowering the digitalization of destinations, hence linking the connection between technology and DMOs’ service innovation. Also, the framework is based on a cultural tourism cocreation ecosystem with Chinese characteristics, and scant research attention has been paid to this.
In previous studies on the value creation of digital services in the context of tourism and hospitality [33, 34], we can provide new insight into several grounds. Firstly, this study adopts a comprehensive framework that includes all four actors and their activities within a service ecosystem, in contrast to earlier studies that only focus on the customer’s perspective or the perspectives of related stakeholders such as employees, while examining the value co-creation process. Specifically, this study further sheds new insight to center on DMO’s service innovation and answers questions about how a destination without technology compacity steps into a road of digitalization service through coordination and cooperation with actors. With the popularity of digitalization toward the goal of being a smart destination for DMOs, we believe that DMOs will seek more digital service innovation that could benefit their future actions. This research thus provides a novel research initiative for future service provisions. The emergence of five values from the service ecosystem has been identified, including cultural value, technological value, educational value, creative value, and emotional value. These values that are derived from the properties of the service ecosystem should serve as a source of inspiration for the future practices of destination management organizations.
Several limitations should be acknowledged for future research. First, the interview data were collected from Dunhuang Mogao Grottos in China, Hence, the findings lack other populations of interest. Therefore, findings should be expanded on other nations, which improve the generosity of the research. Second, the research is among the first studies on the multiple actors’ actors’ roles and actions from one case of destination, future research should be considered in other destinations even hospitality services.
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