Virtual Reality Applications in Tourism Experiences
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a transformative medium in tourism, enabling immersive pre-visit exploration, enhancing marketing strategies and fostering sustainable travel behaviours. By simulating destinations through head-mounted displays, 360° video, spatial audio and, increasingly, olfactory or haptic feedback, VR can evoke a strong sense of presence and emotional engagement. This allows prospective visitors to preview hotels, heritage sites, natural reserves or cultural events in vivid detail before committing to travel, reducing uncertainty and influencing booking decisions. In parallel, VR experiences promote sustainable tourism by offering virtual immersion in sensitive environments—such as fragile ecosystems or overcrowded monuments—thereby alleviating physical pressure on destinations. Heritage conservation also benefits from non-immersive and fully immersive tours, which convey both object-based and existential authenticity, deepening visitor attachment and satisfaction. From multisensory brand activations to virtual cheese-making workshops, applications span destination marketing, customer education and behavioural research. As hardware becomes more portable and affordable, VR is set to integrate with augmented reality, artificial intelligence and real-time analytics, driving personalised and accessible tourism experiences on a global scale.
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Virtual Reality Applications in Tourism Experiences publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in virtual reality applications in tourism experiences across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Telepresence: The psychological state in which users feel physically present in a virtual environment, enhancing engagement and behavioural intention.
Immersion: The extent to which VR technology envelops the user’s sensory perceptions, creating a convincing and cohesive experience.
Existential authenticity: A visitor’s subjective feeling of genuine personal experience within a virtual or physical heritage setting.
Multisensory integration: The coordinated use of visual, auditory, olfactory or haptic stimuli in VR to create a richer, more realistic user experience.
References
- Harnessing the power of virtual reality: Enhancing telepresence and inspiring sustainable travel intentions in the tourism industry. Technology in Society (2023).
- Can you smell the (virtual) roses? The influence of olfactory cues in virtual reality on immersion and positive brand responses. Journal of Retailing (2023).
- Enhancing visit intention in heritage tourism: The role of object‐based and existential authenticity in non‐immersive virtual reality heritage experiences. International Journal of Tourism Research (2021).
- Immersive technologies for tourism: a systematic review. Information Technology & Tourism (2022).
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