The advent of recent technological advancements, and particularly, the metaverse, has brought unprecedented opportunities for tourism. The integration of multiple realities extends tourism beyond the traditional chronological classification of pre-travel, during-travel, and post-travel stages. The novel concept of never-ending tourism captures a holistic multi-dimensional experience in which technological solutions are at the foundation to elevate tourism to an on-going, never-ending activity that permeates every day and travel life. This study adopted a futures methods approach through qualitative in-depth interviews and a scenario development supported by a storytelling technique. The findings present three distinct scenarios of never-ending tourism on a spectrum of digital companion, digital escape and digital connection. The scenarios suggest a growing importance of the pre-travel and post-travel phases, while technologies continue support visitors to enjoy the irreplaceable multisensory experiences on site. Towards 2030, the metaverse will enable visitors to mentally teleport themselves to destinations, regardless of time, financial resources and physical abilities. Individuals will seamlessly move between integrated digital and physical realities, where the engagement with travel becomes a part of daily life. The study is novel and original in that it empirically explores the emerging concept of never-ending tourism and contributes to the wider metaverse discourse in the tourism context. Several practical suggestions and future research directions are given to unlock the potential of never-ending tourism in relation to integrated experience design, new business models and long-term customer engagement.
The needs of travellers vary across cultures. When it comes to culinary aspects, there is a strong connection between gastronomy and culture. To optimise service offerings, investigation of the essential aspects of dining experiences in relation to cultural backgrounds is of great importance. In the age of digitalisation, tourists share their dining experiences throughout their multiphasic travel journey via online platforms. By considering nine distinct cultural backgrounds, this research aims to investigate tourist experiences based on TripAdvisor restaurant reviews through topic modelling, using the city of Salzburg as its study context. Depending on one’s cultural circumstances, the findings demonstrate that the most important aspects include staff, food-menu items, value for money, restaurant physical appearance, food authenticity, overall service, menu offers, food quality, atmosphere, and recommendations. This study advances the state-of-the-art knowledge of societal culture as a variable in the target market analysis of restaurant customers. Findings allow restaurant owners, other tourism service providers, and destination management organisations to analyse and adapt their service offerings and strategies accordingly.
The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the high level of consumer acceptance have made it increasingly complex to retain loyal customers. Virtual Reality (VR) has become a solution that allows tourism providers to design technology-enhanced experiences along the entire customer journey. While most VR offers focus on pre-travel experiences, the potential of VR in the post-travel phase is still little explored. Considering that multisensory tourism experiences contribute to memory formation, the multisensory extension of VR (4D VR) in post-travel experiences is of interest. Thus, through a quantitative field experiment, this study aims to detect what effect the stimulation of different senses during the use of VR has on the overall experience and how this influences the brand relationship quality. The results revealed elevated levels of technology acceptance, which consequently enhances the traveler’s overall VR experience. The multisensory component positively affects one realm of an experience in the area of escapism and thus correlates with the overall experience. However, there is no significant difference between 3D and 4D regarding the level of brand relationship quality. The study expands the literature on 4D VR experiences and supports tourism practitioners in the implementation to strengthen the relationship between a destination and its guests.
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