What future for Virtual Reality in tourism?

Targeted to be released in 2015, the RIFT by Oculus is the upcoming Virtual Reality display, mounted directly on your head. Originally developed for gaming activities, it will also be applicable to other field, including tourism. Indeed, with Virtual Reality it will soon be possible to virtually visit a place with sensations closer to reality. 

Destination British Columbia already created a video adapted to this kind of display featuring Virtual Reality, in order to make an original advertisement. The objective is clearly to give the viewer a taste of what actually are British Columbia landscapes, and generate for him a desire to travel there. The danger here would be that instead of promoting a destination thanks to VR, the customer prefers the ease of VR over and actual trip. So the main question remains: what if the viewer is too satisfied by his VR experience, and doesn’t feel the need to actually travel anymore because he thinks he has seen it all already?

A substitute to trips?

Of course, if we are talking about customer experience, real trip would beat Virtual Reality fair and square when applying to a destination where people go for the climate, for sensations others than sight, and for the real contact with local cultures. VR cannot match the experience of an actual trip, and in a time when pear-approval is a motivation for tourism, VR just doesn’t fit in. The blossoming and pleasure seeking are also factors than are not completed by VR. 

On the other hand, VR could replace actual travel when it comes to landscapes, or visit of museums (either art or historical), monuments. Furthermore, VR can be interactive, and, to be differentiate from an ordinary documentary, you can chose your own path, go your own rhythm, like you would do on an actual trip. The cultural and sightseeing trips are the most targeted by VR, because they don’t require any action others than seeing and listening from the tourist.

Another use of VR is also a potential tool for additional experience. Indeed, it can enhance the tourism experience when visiting a historical site, where he could put on the VR display, and be able de virtually be sent back in the past when major events related to the site he’s visiting occurred. Virtual guides can also be available: to retrace stories of the cultural sites we are in, with a VR background.  

Finally, Virtual Reality could be or not a substitute to real trips, depending on the customer’s motivations and importance given to the actual experience. And since we haven’t yet experienced the most advanced VR displays, we can also wonder if they will be able to keep their promises and provide us with real alike sensations inside their range of effectiveness.

Camille Micault, Vincent Droesbeke.

Guttentag, D. (2010). Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism. Tourism management 31, pp 637-651.

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/will-oculus-rift-help-or-hinder-tourism/

http://www.informationweek.com/it-life/geekend-oculus-rift-tourism/a/d-id/1318097