User experiences with web-based 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals

Abstract

The tourism sector has found virtual reality technology to be a good way to market travel destinations for consumers. In this paper, we describe two user studies with three web-based 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals. These three portals were developed to support and attract wintertime tourism into the region by offering a possibility to experience in advance, a virtual snowy scenery with different activities, for example downhill skiing. In both user studies with 21 subjects the focus was on user experience with the 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals. In the second study also the visual design aspects within these portals were studied.Our studies indicate that 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals can enhance 2D web pages, if they offer the possibility to explore the location freely and through different kinds of virtual activities. Also our studies support prior findings of the efficiency of glow effect for indicating interactive 3D elements within a 3D virtual environment.

La realidad virtual en la promoción del turismo

“…La norma ISO 9241-110:2010 (2010) define la experiencia del usuario como las percepciones y respuestas que surgen del uso o anticipación de un producto, sistema o servicio, es decir, tiene una naturaleza dinámica, contextual y subjetiva, por lo que es necesario estudiarla en tiempo real para evitar cambios o pérdida de información; puesto que es un factor crucial para el éxito de productos y servicios (Pakanen & Arhippainen, 2014).…”

Virtual Library

“…The user can indicate an object of interest through pointing and confirming a selection with the controller button. Interactive objects are indicated with a turquoise glow [12,13] as well as controller vibration when pointed at. The user can also pick up certain objects by reaching and pressing a dedicated button.…”

Virtual pets want to travel: Engaging visitors, creating excitement

“…Several scholarly writings have explored and studied the extent to which Augmented Reality (AR) can be useful in creating virtual or real experiences that are emotional, engaging and enjoyable for travelers and also integrate gamification into marketing such as loyalty programs (Hwang and Choi, 2020;Pakanen and Arhippainen, 2014;Sekhavat and Zarei, 2018;Yung et al, 2021;Yung and Khoo-Lattimore, 2019). This paper explores the introduction of virtual pets as a travel companion through a mobile application to create excitement as a marketing tool to lure visitors to a destination or an attraction.…”