Virtual Reality as a Travel Substitution Tool During COVID-19

Sarkady, Daniel; Neuburger, Larissa; Egger, Roman

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-65785-7_44

Cited by 80 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This study enhances practitioners' understanding of convention facility websites as a sales and marketing tool in preparation for a fourth wave of technology adoption (Solaris, 2019) by the meeting, convention and event planning industry. Recent evidence from both academic literature and industry publications suggests that companies with greater e-commerce capabilities are better positioned to provide a superior customer experience, as well as increase operational efficiency and improve financial performance, especially amidst a global pandemic (American Express, 2020;Chiang, 2020;Hua et al, 2020;Sarkady et al, 2021). Therefore, the study provides management of convention facilities with valuable insight into the utilization of VR technology by competitors.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual site visits for meeting and event planning: are US convention facilities ready?

Soifer

Berezina

Ciftci

et al. 2021

JHTI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThis study aims to explore virtual site visit adoption patterns of US convention facilities based on the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. Additionally, it offers predictive models of virtual site visit tool adoption by applying probability distributions.Design/methodology/approachThe study used content analysis of 369 US convention facility websites. Data collected from the websites recorded the presence or absence of the following tools facilitating virtual site visits: photos, floor plans, videos, 360-photos, 360-tours and virtual reality (VR)-optimized tours. The website content analysis was followed by application of the DOI theory and predictive modeling.FindingsAccording to the DOI theory, the use of VR-optimized tours (4.34%) is still in the early adoption stage, followed by 360-degree tours (12.74%) and standard videos (17.89%) that have transitioned into the early majority stage of adoption and photos (72.09%) and floor plans (84.82%) that represent a late majority stage. Three predictive models with shifted Gompertz, Gumbel and Bass distributions forecasted that convention centers would achieve a 50% adoption rate of 360-degree tools (photos and tours) in 4.67, 4.2 and three years, respectively. The same models predicted a 50% adoption rate of 360-degree tours in 6.62, 5.81 and 4.42 years.Practical implicationsThe research indicates that most US convention facilities have not taken full advantage of their websites as a sales and marketing tool.Originality/valueThis study is the first comprehensive attempt to evaluate the adoption rate of VR and other technologies enabling virtual site visits by using content analysis of US convention facility websites. Additionally, it is the first attempt to apply probability distributions to predict technology adoption in the convention industry context.

show abstract

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual site visits for meeting and event planning: are US convention facilities ready?

Soifer

Berezina

Ciftci

et al. 2021

JHTI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…He concludes that VR will never substitute conventional tourism [16]. In contrast, D. Sarkady et al disagree by stating that although tourists used VR as a substitute for conventional tourism during COVID-19, they will also do so after the pandemic [25].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality: A Simple Substitute or New Niche?

Verkerk

2022

Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since 2020, the tourism industry worldwide has been devastated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments across the globe imposed strict national lockdowns in order to curb the spread of the pandemic, with negative effects on tourism. This forced many tourism companies and organizations to turn to virtual reality (VR) to survive. As a consequence, numerous tourism scholars began to question whether VR would replace conventional tourism after COVID-19. The study aims is to address this concern and to determine if VR will be a substitute for conventional tourism or whether it can be considered as a tourism niche. It is a conceptional study which adopts a comparative analysis of conventional tourism models and VR. It uses two popular conventional tourism models, namely N. Leiper’s (1979) tourism system model and R.W. Butler’s (1980) destination life-cycle model. Based on this analysis, this paper suggests that VR will never be a substitute for conventional tourism, but should rather be considered a future tourism niche.

show abstract

“…Antecedents in some of the literature coincide with the theoretical underpinnings of the studies. For example, literature based on the technology acceptance model use that framework's antecedents of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness [53][54][55], or a study focused on experiential dimensions uses those for its attributes [14]. Similarly, those who study presence [8,56,57] or telepresence [3,10] as a core concept observe it as an antecedent of effective virtual experience.…”

Section: Antecedents Of Virtual Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

VR in Tourism: A New Call for Virtual Tourism Experience amid and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

Godovykh

Baker

Fyall

2022

Tourism and Hospitality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Virtual reality has become a more common phenomenon in both destination marketing and on-site experience. The recent challenges such as overtourism and the COVID-19 pandemic have created a pressing need to examine virtual tourism as an alternative to traditional travel. This conceptual article aims at clarifying virtual experience in tourism, discussing the main antecedents and outcomes of virtual experience, and proposing a conceptual model of virtual tourism experience. The review of the literature revealed that virtual experience in tourism is influenced by factors related to information, quality, technology acceptance, and affective involvement and has significant effects on tourists’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. This paper contributes to knowledge and practice by classifying the main groups of factors influencing virtual tourism experience, introducing the conceptual model, discussing opportunities for future research, and providing recommendations for tourism practitioners.

show abstract

Virtual Reality as a Travel Substitution Tool During COVID-19

Cited by 80 publications

References 44 publications

Virtual site visits for meeting and event planning: are US convention facilities ready?

Virtual site visits for meeting and event planning: are US convention facilities ready?

Virtual Reality: A Simple Substitute or New Niche?

VR in Tourism: A New Call for Virtual Tourism Experience amid and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About