Exploring non‐immersive virtual reality experiences in tourism: Empirical evidence from a world heritage site

Abstract

With the popularization of the concept of the metaverse, non‐immersive virtual reality (VR) has become a focus of tourism destination marketing. Drawing upon telepresence theory, this study identifies the antecedents and consequences of telepresence to help interpret tourist behavior in the context of non‐immersive VR experience. Results revealed that mental imagery and vividness positively predict tourist telepresence and satisfaction; Telepresence positively predicts satisfaction and intention during non‐immersive VR experiences. Our work enriches telepresence theory by identifying the antecedents and consequences of telepresence in the context of non‐immersive VR, and provides meaningful practical insights for similar attractions that adopt the technology.

Research trends of digital tourism: a bibliometric analysis

“…Managers should consider applying for digital tourism based on cluster findings and research trend, for instance, communication technology as supported by (Pawłowska-Legwand, 2020; Ruiz-Gómez et al , 2018), tourism experience and virtual tour as argued by (Knani et al , 2022; Leal et al , 2020; Zhu et al , 2023), sustainable tourism as explained by (Scott, 2014; Del Vecchio et al , 2018) and website usability as supported by (da Silva-Pina et al , 2018). Furthermore, smart strategies should be used to improve access inclusively, including dealing with destinations that have internet network problems by building adequate digital infrastructure.…”

“…In 2011-2021, it was more about social media, software applications and mobile phones. Some academics predicted that in the next decade, digital tourism will be about virtual reality (Zhu et al, 2023) and metaverse tourism (Buhalis et al, 2023). One important thing in this trend is the positive Research on digital tourism gained momentum when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020-2021.…”

How to use augmented reality to promote a destination? The mediating role of augmented reality attachment

“…Besides, this study also proposes two research mediating hypotheses: that AR attachment can significantly mediate authenticity and word of mouth, as well as narrative transportation and word of mouth. Chinese and Western historical and cultural characteristics that are appealing to many tourists (Zhu, Wu, et al, 2023). In recent years, the Macau Government Tourist Office promotes their heritage sites through augmented reality.…”

“…collection of numerous tourism and hospitality studies (Zhu, Wu, et al, 2023). The reasons for this study's adoption of the Tencent questionnaire were based on the following: Recent scholars have found that in AR, VR, and social media tourism data collection, online surveys are appropriate because they can enhance the response quickly, expand the sample background, and ensure the real identity of respondents (Zhu, Wu, et al, 2023;Cao et al, 2021). Thus, online surveys are considered suitable for data collection in AR tourism research.…”

Short video marketing in tourism: Telepresence, celebrity attachment, and travel intention

“…Social media authenticity experiences are critical to destination marketing (Kim & Kim, 2020; Zhu, Fong, Gao, Buhalis, et al, 2022). Previous scholars have indicated that as digital technology becomes increasingly intertwined, customers are seeking a sense of existential authenticity during their digital experience (Zhu, Fong, et al, 2023; Zhu, Hall, et al, 2023). Similarly, social media integrated digital technology with tourism.…”