Virtual Reality and the End of Tourism? A Substitution Acceptance Model

Daniel Guttentag ()
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Daniel Guttentag: College of Charleston

Chapter 79 in Handbook of e-Tourism, 2022, pp 1901-1919 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter examines the question of whether future virtual reality (VR) experiences will be accepted as substitutes for real tourism experiences. It begins with an overview of the present state of VR technology and a vision of how future VR technology may further enhance the user experience. The chapter then summarizes the various benefits that VR tourism can provide (e.g., minimizing costs and hassles, providing limitless accessibility and opportunity, and eliminating negative environmental and social impacts), in addition to the limitations of VR tourism (e.g., technological restrictions, artificiality, and limited duration). It is argued that VR will not replace tourism entirely, but will be accepted as a substitute by some people for some tourism experiences. A substitution acceptance model is proposed that details the variables that will determine the likelihood of a VR experience being accepted as a substitute for a real-world tourism experience. These variables are divided into three categories – characteristics of the user, characteristics of the experience, and the quality of the VR experience. Lastly, various implications of VR tourism are explored.

Keywords: Virtual reality; Virtual tourism; Presence; Innovation; Substitution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-48652-5_113

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-48652-5_113

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