Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention
This research focuses on the growing significance of virtual reality (VR) in the tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted Thailand's tourism sector, reducing foreign tourist arrivals and challenging traditional tourism models. However, this crisis created opportunities fo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Results in Engineering |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024018930 |
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| author | Komsit Kieanwatana Rattawut Vongvit |
| author_facet | Komsit Kieanwatana Rattawut Vongvit |
| author_sort | Komsit Kieanwatana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This research focuses on the growing significance of virtual reality (VR) in the tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted Thailand's tourism sector, reducing foreign tourist arrivals and challenging traditional tourism models. However, this crisis created opportunities for technological innovation, particularly VR, which has the potential to enhance travel intention by offering immersive, virtual experiences that promote destination appeal and accessibility, even to those unable to travel physically. The study aimed to explore the relationships between virtual experiences, destination images, and travel intention by examining the positive impact of VR on travelers' decision-making processes. The data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. This study employed a well-structured research model featuring an instrument with 36 items distributed across 12 constructs to validate the hypotheses. The survey, conducted and collected via Google Forms, involved 400 participants. The analysis outcomes supported 17 of the 20 hypotheses. The R2values of 0.728, 0.959, and 0.704 of the variances in travel intention, virtual experience, and destination image, respectively, demonstrate strong predictive power for each variable. The study suggests strong evidence for these specific associations in the context of virtual experiences, destination images, and their influence on travel intention. This study reveals that virtual experiences and destination images significantly enhance travel intention, highlighting VR's potential as a powerful tool for destination marketing. The findings underscore the importance of accessible information, high-quality content, novelty, and sensory stimulation in creating immersive virtual experiences and the role of recognition in fostering a favorable destination image, though the effects of safety and recognition warrant further investigation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f5c96e042914c94ac59526fd6c316d4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2590-1230 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Results in Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f5c96e042914c94ac59526fd6c316d42024-12-19T11:00:17ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302024-12-0124103650Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intentionKomsit Kieanwatana0Rattawut Vongvit1Faculty of Environmental Culture and Ecotourism, Srinakharinwirot University, 114 Sukhumvit 23, Bangkok 10110, ThailandDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot University, 63 Mu 7, Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road, Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok 26120, Thailand; Corresponding author.This research focuses on the growing significance of virtual reality (VR) in the tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted Thailand's tourism sector, reducing foreign tourist arrivals and challenging traditional tourism models. However, this crisis created opportunities for technological innovation, particularly VR, which has the potential to enhance travel intention by offering immersive, virtual experiences that promote destination appeal and accessibility, even to those unable to travel physically. The study aimed to explore the relationships between virtual experiences, destination images, and travel intention by examining the positive impact of VR on travelers' decision-making processes. The data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. This study employed a well-structured research model featuring an instrument with 36 items distributed across 12 constructs to validate the hypotheses. The survey, conducted and collected via Google Forms, involved 400 participants. The analysis outcomes supported 17 of the 20 hypotheses. The R2values of 0.728, 0.959, and 0.704 of the variances in travel intention, virtual experience, and destination image, respectively, demonstrate strong predictive power for each variable. The study suggests strong evidence for these specific associations in the context of virtual experiences, destination images, and their influence on travel intention. This study reveals that virtual experiences and destination images significantly enhance travel intention, highlighting VR's potential as a powerful tool for destination marketing. The findings underscore the importance of accessible information, high-quality content, novelty, and sensory stimulation in creating immersive virtual experiences and the role of recognition in fostering a favorable destination image, though the effects of safety and recognition warrant further investigation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024018930Travel intentionVirtual realityVirtual experienceDestination imageTechnology acceptanceStructural equation modeling |
| spellingShingle | Komsit Kieanwatana Rattawut Vongvit Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention Results in Engineering Travel intention Virtual reality Virtual experience Destination image Technology acceptance Structural equation modeling |
| title | Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| title_full | Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| title_fullStr | Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| title_full_unstemmed | Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| title_short | Virtual reality in tourism: The impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| title_sort | virtual reality in tourism the impact of virtual experiences and destination image on the travel intention |
| topic | Travel intention Virtual reality Virtual experience Destination image Technology acceptance Structural equation modeling |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024018930 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT komsitkieanwatana virtualrealityintourismtheimpactofvirtualexperiencesanddestinationimageonthetravelintention AT rattawutvongvit virtualrealityintourismtheimpactofvirtualexperiencesanddestinationimageonthetravelintention |