Gamification techniques in tourism, application test, Casa Mosquera Museum

Abstract

Information and communications technology [ICT] used in the tourism sector is a topic of a great actuality; its capability of adding interactive elements is promoting new environment training in museums and their renewal. This article presents an experience using a serious game developed for Mosquera House Museum. The application, at pilot level during Holy Week 2015, showed the positive effects and gave some lessons for future developments: this type of application encourages learning and reception of information by museum visitors; tourists recommend using this kind of application, both for other museums and for historic places in the city; a limitation is the reduced amount of people that can interact with the application, as there is no wi-fi in the facilities of the House Museum, preventing more use by interested users and reading of the QR labels; it is recommended to have the application in an apps store to facilitate its installation. The application received a great welcome from museum personnel and visitors. It energized the visit and improved it, turning it into an interactive experience; these applications can revolutionize the tourism industry by introducing more scenarios, because these are so striking for visitors. The modern world and the current technological environment are ideal for the evolution of applications of gamification techniques, in tourism and in other aspects of everyday life. Games are a technological experience that can be striking for the whole audience and motivate visitors to recommend places that they visit, based on their good experience that represents a renewal of the environment through this kind of technological application.