Tourism needs to get started

According to Gartner, the American technology consulting and research firm, by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse, whether for business, entertainment, education, socializing or shopping. With the craze for metaverses, new business models might emerge, allowing to push digital activities even further, even to include metaverse products and services. Tourism is one of the sectors that absolutely must get started.

By 2026, 30% of organizations worldwide will have metaverse-ready products and services. How will this technological novelty influence the tourism industry around the world? And how will industry professionals adapt to the virtual world? Questions that arise as we announce the imminent arrival of the Metaverse, the parallel virtual world. According to an e-tourism expert, there are currently three worlds that complement each other: the real world, the digital world and the virtual world. “The Metaverse and digital are at the service of the real world. We have taken advantage of the Internet, Facebook and all the platforms and all the social networks to develop tourism and we will do the same with the Metaverse which will have a positive impact on tourism,” explains the specialist. And to add that current tourism is not limited to visiting a destination, it has become a human experience. “Men like to live the real. A person dazzled by his experience in the virtual world in Tunisia, for example, will certainly be encouraged to come and live this adventure in the real world. In fact, virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree technology already exist in most tourist sites and museums, but that hasn’t stopped tourists from traveling. On the contrary, the virtual has promoted tourism, ”he says.

Boost actual bookings

With virtual tours, hotels are marketing their properties by letting guests see their rooms in detail before booking them. Likewise, many high-end resorts have virtual tours organized to showcase their products. A British travel agent has used virtual reality to let customers experience excursions, including a five-minute helicopter ride in Manhattan. The result was a 190% increase in New York vacation bookings. Many hotel chains, restaurants, and even airlines have started sharing their products in VR.

According to specialists, the Metaverse might also help to disseminate culture and tourist exploration for disadvantaged people who do not have the means to travel, or to make accessible places difficult to reach or sites in danger, and even to preserve the priceless heritage weakened by the crowd of tourists.

What to choose ?

Tourism in Tunisia will suffer if, as expected, the Metaverse is applied within five years. Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 will remain glued behind their helmets to experiment and live in this virtual world. But this negative impact on tourism will be temporary, since following a while people will get bored of virtual tourism and return to the real tourist experience. “The tourism industry must integrate the real world into the virtual world. Hotels, for example, must buy space in the Metaverse to sell rooms virtually. Companies and states must also reserve spaces on the Metaverse, which will become more and more expensive,” said a tourism professional. In fact, “virtual-visitors” are willing to pay for an intangible experience, especially as the Metaverse will lead to the creation of new means of entertainment for tourists. “Instead of simply visiting the Tunisian desert, the v-tourist might wear pharaonic clothes and participate in the preparation of gastronomic dishes”, foresees the hotelier. Many countries are now looking to leverage the Metaverse to develop tourism. Finland, a pioneer in this technology, has launched its “Virtual Helsinki” project, which aims to introduce travelers to the city’s monuments. We’ve even built an interactive 3D model of the Finnish capital for sightseeing, shopping and education purposes, and there’s even virtual citizenship. In the future, v-citizens will be able to have their homes, shop, and participate in activities, such as concerts, art exhibits, and games, all in VR. This experience is offered free of charge on augmented reality game platforms, but also in 360 video on “YouTube” for people who are not equipped: a way to feel the atmosphere of a destination while being at home. Through this new technology, users will be at the heart of the experience. But when it comes to tourism, virtual travel will never rival the sights, sounds, smells of the real world.

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