The role of VR in influencing tourism consumers' attitudes towards a tourist destination: an abstract

Virtual reality (VR) has been outlined as one of the most important technological developments to influence the tourism industry due to its ability to engage consumers and to market tourism destinations. The purpose of this research is to understand the role of VR in influencing tourism consumers' attitudes towards a tourist destination. Through a lab-based experiment with 204 tourism consumers this research found that following a VR preview experience of a tourist destination consumers will have more positive attitudes towards the tourist destination than prior to the VR experience. Interestingly, in comparison, a website preview has no significant effect on influencing tourism consumers' previously held attitudes towards the destination. More so, the results indicate that tourism consumers have more positive attitudes towards a tourist destination in a VR preview in comparison to a less immersive website preview. Thus, the inherent interactive, immersive, and sensory rich attributes of VR have a positive effect on tourism consumers' attitudes towards a destination.