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Virtual reality, cultural tourism, and visitor experience: a case study
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.7 MB | Adobe PDF |
Authors
Abstract(s)
Immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are becoming increasingly popular in the tourism industry. In cultural tourism, these technologies are being used to enhance visitors understanding of history and provide them with more differentiated and innovative experiences. This is particularly important considering people’s growing demand for self-learning, authentic experiences, and meaning-creation in travel. Virtual reality offers different ways to connect and interact with the history and heritage of a destination, opening new possibilities for cultural tourism experiences. This dissertation explores consumers' perspectives about virtual reality products on the visitor experience in cultural tourism through a case study of VR Tours Vienna. VR Tours Vienna is a walking tour in the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) protected centre of Vienna, Austria during which the history of the city is experienced through virtual reality. The research aims to understand how tourists perceive the experience of exploring history and culture through VR as part of a walking tour by examining perceived enjoyment, content quality, educational experience, and the reuse intention of VR. A mixed methodology – combination of a statistical analysis of a survey questionnaire and content analysis of online customer reviews were used to receive a holistic understanding of the customer experience. Educational experience, enjoyment, satisfaction with staff and content quality were found to be in the core of a successful experience. The study found positive results to a heightened reuse intention of virtual reality products after the VR experience. These results show that immersive technologies such as VR can be applied in tourist attractions and destinations to optimise tourists’ experience and to increase knowledge about the local history and culture.
Description
Keywords
Virtual reality Cultural tourism Visitor experience Immersive experience VR Tour
Citation
Publisher
CC License
Without CC licence