There are two broad types
of tourism visitor orientation and interpretive digital product.
Visitor orientation digital product is the "need to know" content helping people to make informed choices and explore unfamiliar environments.
Interpretive digital product by comparison is the value add. It helps people attribute values and meanings to the experience they are engaged in.
Visitor orientation digital material should be delivered on non-discriminatory platforms. These can communicate with people irrespective of their choice of language, mobile device or extent of pre-trip preparation. Web apps and interactive PDF smartphone guides offer this capability.
Interpretation digital product ideally then sits on top of this core foundation of essential visitor "need to know" content. "Want to know" material can afford to target specific user groups with value add product such as may be delivered in a single language to people who are prepared to download a tourism app to their device in order to access this digital interpretive experience.
It follows that interpretive digital content is largely driven by technological innovation.
As new and improved augmented and virtual reality apps evolve for example so too do new opportunities emerge in relation to how these can be used.
Digital visitor orientation information however rests upon content. The technology is powered by the internet browser on people's mobile devices.
This means that content based resources like tourism web-apps have a long term relevance as their functionality is only improved - not threatened - by third party technological innovation.