Virtual reality refers to interactive images or videos that enable the viewer to explore the entire 360 degrees of a scene. … In the travel industry, virtual reality can be used to capture tourism destinations in a unique and immersive way.

This is achieved using specialist cameras, rigs, and software. virtual tourism

Virtual Reality (VR) Technology Explained

Virtual reality technology typically involves the use of a VR headset, which helps to immerse a user in a digital environment. Through the use of images, sounds and other physical sensations, the user is essentially placed within a virtual world, which they can move around and, in some cases, interact with in other ways.

Although VR has a long history, it has come to the forefront of mainstream consumer technology in recent times, thanks to high-powered VR headsets produced by the likes of Samsung and Sony, as well as lower-cost options from the likes of Google. The uses include gaming, watching interactive videos, viewing 360 degree images and more.

Virtual Reality in the Travel Industry

Businesses operating within the travel industry has been especially quick to adopt virtual reality technology and for good reason. Typically, their customers are looking to purchase experiences, rather than products, and virtual reality offers an effective way for marketers to give them a taste of what they can expect.

Travel customers usually require lots of information before they book a hotel room. This may, for instance, require them to read descriptions, view images, look at videos, read customer reviews or seek opinions on social media. Through intelligent use of virtual reality, however, this process can be shortened significantly.

Many hotels and travel companies are now providing virtual reality elements on their websites or apps, allowing users to experience a digital version of a hotel room, or even take a look at one of the nearby attractions. This immersion enables those in the travel industry to provide a kind of ‘try before you buy’ option for the first time.

1. Virtual Tours of Hotels

One of the best examples of virtual reality in action within the travel industry is the use of the technology for providing virtual tours of hotels and hotel rooms. The key benefit of this is that it allows potential customers to experience what the hotel looks like before they arrive, offering more transparency than standard images.

2. Virtual Booking Interface

Some companies have taken the use of VR a step further, offering an entire booking process and user interface that can be experienced through a virtual reality headset. Effectively, this replaces the need to use a traditional computer mouse, or touch screen, in order to make a hotel or flight booking.

3. Virtual Travel Experiences

Finally, virtual reality is offering hotels, travel agents, and other businesses within the tourism industry the opportunity to provide prospective customers with a virtual travel experience. This means that users will be able to sample some of the main attractions that are likely to draw them to a location in the first place.

For instance, a hotel in Paris may be able to provide a virtual experience of what it is like at the top of the Eiffel Tower, while a hotel near a theme park may be able to provide a virtual roller-coaster experience. The primary benefit of this is the ability to sell rooms, flights and travel products based on the experiences they can enable.

Here are some of our favorite virtual tourism experiences right now.

See Mount Everest from a helicopter

Getting up close and personal with the world’s tallest mountain generally involves a lifetime of training, and that’s before you factor in getting there. This tour, courtesy of Discovery, takes you on the journey of helicopter rescue pilots through Mount Everest, making for the most low-stakes way to take the most dangerous trek imaginable.

Step back in time and see ancient Egyptian tombs

It’s not every day that you get to explore the tombs of Egyptian rulers like Pharoah Ramesses VI and Queen Meresankh III. But thanks to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, you can take a virtual tour of museums, sunken monuments, and tombs throughout the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Acropolis Hill Virtual Tour in Athens

Discover the wonders of the Acropolis of Athens in the safety of your home with this fun-filled virtual tour! Marvel at the likes of the Theatre of Dionysus, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, the Parthenon, and more. Take advantage of the street and satellite views to spot some hidden treasures scattered around the area. Turn towards any direction you want and feel like exploring as if you were actually in this historical site. Listen to riveting stories and insightful trivia about each of the iconic structures you’ll see through this tour

Explore the world’s best beaches

Until we can lay out on the white sands of our favorite beaches again, we can imagine we’re there through 360-degree virtual tours. Float in the crystal clear waters of the Maldives or admire the mountain ranges surrounding Myrtos Beach in Greece. Each beach offers breathtaking views that may just make you forget you’re not actually there soaking up the sun.

Check out the world’s most celebrated art museums

Check out these Google Arts & Culture tours of museums like the Van Gogh Museum, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and the Louvre, finally representing a chance to see the Mona Lisa up close and personal without getting bumped around by throngs of fellow tourists. Each tour is a little different — try using Google Street View to explore a luxuriously empty Guggenheim, or scroll your way through a digital timeline of events at the British Museum.

Visit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem’s Old City

Here’s a fabulous 360-degree VR tour of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Israel Museum has a virtual tour of its own, with some interactive activities for younger kids, too. You can also take a VR tour of the Church of Saint Anne, along with a variety of Jerusalem holy sites.

Skip the lines at Disney World

Imagine you could go on every ride at Disney World without having to wait in line as some sugar-addled toddler chomps a sweaty turkey leg in the sweltering heat. It’s still gonna be a while before you can do it in person, but for now you can get a bird’s eye view of the entire Florida resort park — Epcot included — and experience a 360 view of favorites like the Cinderella Castle, Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train, and Main Street USA.

Journey through a South African safari in Kruger National Park

Offering a rare chance to get close to lions, and tigers, and bears without those pesky mosquito nets or Netflix documentary crews trying to get you to admit to killing your spouse, this experience brings a full-blown safari into your home. Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s largest animal reserves and without having to book a flight, you can ride through it and observe rhinos, giraffes, and antelopes here.

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