Although countries are slowly opening up for tourism, people are still sceptic to step out of their homes. But what if you can soon travel to those bucket list destinations without the fear of contracting the virus? Curious to know how?Read on to know more about it.

What Is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality (VR), a technology that is popular in gaming and entertainment is being tried out in the tourism industry. It's not that this technology is being used for the first time in the tourism sector, but unlike five years ago, today it has become the need of the hour and is the next best solution to save drowning tourism.

In the past, travel companies like Thomas Cook and The North Face, have embraced VR technology; however, it was not much talked about. The use of VR in the travel sector is still new, but a growing number of companies are experimenting to find good use of it.

Virtual Booking Experience

Travel companies and hotels are using this technology to enable the feeling of 'being there' which regular images and videos earlier lacked. The customer is placed in a virtual world, where they can move around the hotel rooms, restaurants, lawns that would undoubtedly help them to select and experience the facilities before booking. They call it the 'try before you buy' kind of seamless booking experience.

Las Vegas as a destination is already ahead in time to use VR in travel. With an app called Vegas VR, you can now roam around the city and immerse yourself in the Vegas experience using 360-degree video tours of attractions, hotels, restaurants and clubs. As per Vegas travel authority, Virtual Reality is the future of vacation planning.

Virtual Tour Experience

Image: 123RF

Imagine sitting at home wearing a virtual reality headset andexperience travelling around the world. Be it bungee jumping, skydiving or trekking in the Himalayas, you can go anywhere in the world virtually. There aren't many companies which provide such virtual travel experiences, not in India as of yet, but soon there will be many as the pandemic has made the travel industry look for alternatives to recover.

With the virtual tour, you can travel without the hassleno jet lag, language barriers or expensive price tags. You can even travel without breaking your banks. Back home, Meraki creates virtual reality experiences for clients in India. In 2015, The North Face advertised their shoes using VR, where they offered participants an opportunity to hike through Yosemite National Park as well as Nepal. People were able to feel what it was like to explore, thus motivating them to have a reason to buy the shoes.

No doubt VR is going to transform the travel culture, but the question ishow real are they going to make you feel? Though VR has a wide scope, it still has its limitations. Using VR, you can surely summit Mount Everest, go skiing, mountain biking, paragliding, kayaking and a lot more. Nevertheless, you will miss out on the traditional cultures of those places like the taste of their street food, famous cuisines, buying traditional clothes, meeting new people and all those experiences which you look forward towhen you embark on a journey. However, virtual tours could be beneficial in some cases, for instance, if a person is incapable of physically travelling or for elderly people.

Virtual Reality and Artificial intelligence have already paved their way into the planning and booking segment of travel. What remains to be seen is whether the Indian travel market or the audience will go for virtual tours and whether it will be successful in India.

Also Read:Expert Speak: An Account of How Tourism-Dependent Regions Are Surviving

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Expert Speak: Is Virtual Reality The New Way Forward In Travel? - Femina