## 5 Conclusions  
The ten use case studies demonstrated how XR can be applied across diverse contexts for CH and tourism applications: pre-visit planning, on-site exploration, and post-visit engagement for history education, museum visits, cultural heritage site visits, tourist visits, and hospitality perks. Additionally, they explore a diverse application area for scenarios of use, such as in professional and amateur CH research sharing, preservation, analysis, sharing, homeschooling, self-study, and in-school activities. Leveraging physgital design solutions using digital twins, blockchain, NFT technologies, and online-offline gamification, these studies highlight innovative ways to enhance accessibility, collaboration, and learning while transforming the preservation and dissemination of CH. By connecting to the past with cutting-edge technology, this review underscores the potential for XR to reimagine the cultural heritage experience for scholars, enthusiasts, and the general public alike. For each of the ten use cases reviewed above, the HCD methods that were highlighted in the use case reviews were discussed in detail above. A connection was made to the traditional use of the method and how it was adapted, along with important open issues with regards to using these methods for the design and evaluation of CH XR application development projects and physgital CH tourism and hospitality experiences. It is clear from our use case reviews that physgital CH tourism and hospitality innovations present significant opportunities for enhancing visitor engagement, accessibility, education, and economic growth, while also supporting global sustainability and resource preservation efforts. While this work has focused on usability aspects during the design and validation phases of the XR experiences, it is equally important to consider their long-term impact in terms of sustained user engagement and knowledge retention. Post-deployment evaluation can provide valuable insights into how user interactions and perceptions evolve over time. Future implementations should incorporate usage analytics (e.g., real-time interaction metrics), follow-up surveys, and iterative testing with returning users. These strategies would not only help ensure the continued effectiveness of the applications but also support their adaptability to evolving user needs. Although the development of the XR experiences emphasized usability and expert-driven design, the importance of involving end-users, community members, and cultural stakeholders in the creation process is increasingly recognized. Participatory design methods--such as workshops, collaborative storytelling, and iterative prototyping--can enhance authenticity, foster user engagement, and support culturally representative outcomes. While full co-creation was not implemented across all cases, certain applications, such as PLUGGY, did incorporate stakeholder input through the active involvement of curators and cultural experts. Future work should more systematically integrate co-creation practices to promote shared ownership and contextual relevance. In addition, there are some remaining design and evaluation challenges, such as cultural authenticity, accessibility, technical complexity, and sustainability. These remain areas requiring further exploration. Collaborative research and innovative design practices are essential to maximize the potential of these transformative technologies while addressingtheir inherent limitations. The anticipated positive effects and challenges of integrating physgital experiences in CH tourism and hospitality are as follows:  
* Enhanced Visitor Engagement  
Physgital technologies significantly enhance visitor engagement by creating immersive and interactive experiences. For instance, [PERSON] et al. (2024) [137] demonstrated how digital storytelling in Italy's Naxos Archaeological Park increased visitor immersion and understanding of historical narratives through augmented reality (AR) overlays and gamified exploration.