Abstract
Emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), have been influencing both the tourism supply side and tourists alike. The purpose of this study is to analyse VR research in tourism and to provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. As the technological connotation of the term VR has been changing and encompasses various VR systems with different capabilities, this paper aims to provide a systematic and structured overview. The overall objective of this paper is to contribute to a thorough understanding of VR research in tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper comprehensively reviews and analyses existing literature on VR in tourism, published from 1994 to February 2018. Using a wide variety of sources, these papers were examined so as to give a state-of-the-art literature review and to deepen one’s understanding of the diverse applications of VR in a tourism context. This paper also presents a novel classification of different VR systems according to the level of immersion and depicts their respective technological capabilities.
Findings
The advent of new VR hardware necessitates a distinction for different VR systems applied in the tourism sector. Research conducted during the past three years has been focussing on the application of head-mounted displays, which reflects the temporal development of VR technology. Regardless of the VR system, most studies examine VR as a marketing tool for promotion and communication purposes during the pre-travel phase, focussing on behavioural aspects. Advances in technology will yield new opportunities and application possibilities for the tourism industry.
Originality/value
The key contribution of this paper lies in its structural approach, which differentiates between non-, semi- and fully immersive VR systems in tourism, as well as the proposition of respective definitions. The concluding part of the paper proposes practical implications for tourism businesses together with directions for future studies. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 586-612 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Journal | Tour. Rev. |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- 360-degree
- Immersive
- Tourism
- Virtual environment
- Virtual reality
- VR
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In: Tour. Rev., Vol. 74, No. 3, 2019, p. 586-612.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtual reality in tourism: a state-of-the-art review
AU - Beck, J.
AU - Rainoldi, M.
AU - Egger, R.
N1 - Cited By :174 Export Date: 14 December 2023 Correspondence Address: Egger, R.; Deparment of Innovation and Management in Tourism, Austria; email: [email protected] References: Azuma, R., Baillot, Y., Behringer, R., Feiner, S., Julier, S., MacIntyre, B., Recent advances in augmented reality (2001) IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 21 (6), pp. 34-47; Beck, J., Egger, R., Emotionalise me: self-reporting and arousal measurements in virtual tourism environments (2018) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2018 Proceedings of the International Conference in Jönköping, Sweden, pp. 3-15. , Stangl, B. and Pesonen, J. and,(Eds), 24-26 January, Springer, Cham; Buhalis, D., Law, R., Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the internet - the state of eTourism research (2008) Tourism Management, 29 (4), pp. 609-623; Bowman, D.A., Koller, D., Hodges, L.F., Travel in immersive virtual environments: an evaluation of viewpoint motion control techniques (1997) Proceedings - IEEE 1997 Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium in Albuquerque, NM, 1-5 March, pp. 45-52. , IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos; Buhalis, D., Egger, R., Informations- und kommunikationstechnologien als mittel zur prozess- und produktinnovation für den unternehmer (2006) Innovationen im Tourismus, pp. 163-176. , Peters, M. and Pikkemaat, B. and,(Eds), Dt. 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Interface, Application, and Design, , Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Purpose Emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), have been influencing both the tourism supply side and tourists alike. The purpose of this study is to analyse VR research in tourism and to provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. As the technological connotation of the term VR has been changing and encompasses various VR systems with different capabilities, this paper aims to provide a systematic and structured overview. The overall objective of this paper is to contribute to a thorough understanding of VR research in tourism. Design/methodology/approach This paper comprehensively reviews and analyses existing literature on VR in tourism, published from 1994 to February 2018. Using a wide variety of sources, these papers were examined so as to give a state-of-the-art literature review and to deepen one’s understanding of the diverse applications of VR in a tourism context. This paper also presents a novel classification of different VR systems according to the level of immersion and depicts their respective technological capabilities. Findings The advent of new VR hardware necessitates a distinction for different VR systems applied in the tourism sector. Research conducted during the past three years has been focussing on the application of head-mounted displays, which reflects the temporal development of VR technology. Regardless of the VR system, most studies examine VR as a marketing tool for promotion and communication purposes during the pre-travel phase, focussing on behavioural aspects. Advances in technology will yield new opportunities and application possibilities for the tourism industry. Originality/value The key contribution of this paper lies in its structural approach, which differentiates between non-, semi- and fully immersive VR systems in tourism, as well as the proposition of respective definitions. The concluding part of the paper proposes practical implications for tourism businesses together with directions for future studies. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.
AB - Purpose Emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), have been influencing both the tourism supply side and tourists alike. The purpose of this study is to analyse VR research in tourism and to provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. As the technological connotation of the term VR has been changing and encompasses various VR systems with different capabilities, this paper aims to provide a systematic and structured overview. The overall objective of this paper is to contribute to a thorough understanding of VR research in tourism. Design/methodology/approach This paper comprehensively reviews and analyses existing literature on VR in tourism, published from 1994 to February 2018. Using a wide variety of sources, these papers were examined so as to give a state-of-the-art literature review and to deepen one’s understanding of the diverse applications of VR in a tourism context. This paper also presents a novel classification of different VR systems according to the level of immersion and depicts their respective technological capabilities. Findings The advent of new VR hardware necessitates a distinction for different VR systems applied in the tourism sector. Research conducted during the past three years has been focussing on the application of head-mounted displays, which reflects the temporal development of VR technology. Regardless of the VR system, most studies examine VR as a marketing tool for promotion and communication purposes during the pre-travel phase, focussing on behavioural aspects. Advances in technology will yield new opportunities and application possibilities for the tourism industry. Originality/value The key contribution of this paper lies in its structural approach, which differentiates between non-, semi- and fully immersive VR systems in tourism, as well as the proposition of respective definitions. The concluding part of the paper proposes practical implications for tourism businesses together with directions for future studies. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.
KW - 360-degree
KW - Immersive
KW - Tourism
KW - Virtual environment
KW - Virtual reality
KW - VR
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/df4047bc-947d-3451-ba30-6f213350c0ba/
U2 - 10.1108/tr-03-2017-0049
DO - 10.1108/tr-03-2017-0049
M3 - Article
SN - 1660-5373
VL - 74
SP - 586
EP - 612
JO - Tour. Rev.
JF - Tour. Rev.
IS - 3
ER -