Virtual Museums Between Digital Marketing and Digitization of Heritage

Museums play an important role in promoting tourism industries and creating local job opportunities, The information available online influences visitors' decisions about their destinations. Therefore, marketing, especially digital marketing, has become one of the most important tools of museum management. Due to the successive development in the techniques and tools used in marketing and tourism activation. It has become important for museums to have quality websites, Museum’s website is two sides of the same coin; A side concerned with digitizing the museum’s collections in order to preserve the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, properly manage heritage, and plan for its sustainability and investment. Another side aspect that serves to communicate and interact with the public, by competing with various cultural, educational and entertainment institutions to attract the interest of the local and even international audience if possible. Hence the role of digital marketing through the virtual museum using information and communication technology techniques and creative ideas from digital games, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. This has made social media as a backbone for the sustainability of museums and heritage preservation through the strategic marketing of cultural marketing.
This research will deal with several axes, including the concept of the virtual museum and its application in documenting heritage and the techniques used, and how to take advantage of the virtual museum to promote tourism through digital marketing through social media.