How VR Tourism Can Enhance Subjective Well-being: A Conceptual Model

COVID-19 Impacts on Human's Mental Health

Virtual reality tourism(VR tourism) has attracted lots of attention from the tourism industry in recent years. With the catalysis of people’s lockdown during pandemic, Watching and engaging in VR tourism is going to become a trend and a new opportunity for people who are blocked down during the Pandemic. Based on existed literature, we confirm that VR tourism is beneficial to release people’s  loneliness, travel anxiety and gain positive psychological status. This article construct a conceptual model to deeply analyse the process of well-being outcomes during participants’ VR tourism experience and behavior intention after VR tourism. Furthermore, the article also suggest for further tourism development accordingly for the new-normal time or even other lock down if happens again. 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive disruption to the entire world. In the studies, countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Republic of Georgia had adopted social isolation or even lockdown to flatten the curve of the affected case. People’s movement is significantly restricted, they are required to stay at home for a lengthy period. There are enormous studies have investigated the impact of lockdown on people’s mental health. They found out people suffered from loneliness and psychological distress during lockdown (Makhashvili et al, 2020; Alt, Reim, & Walper, 2021; Norbury, 2021). Exposing to prolonged stressful lockdown, people felt lonely due to the restriction of daily activities and social contact with family and friends, they also experienced psychological distress including anxiety, depression, and adjustment of disorder under the uncertainty from pandemic. 

People with negative self-perceptions of aging are less resilient to loneliness and psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemic. Alt, Reim, & Walper (2021) pointed out loneliness and depression were also found on young adults, the personal trait of extraversion does not help. It is expected to have a stronger impact on extraverted young adults under the restricted contact with others, where their social needs might not be met. In another study, there were 2088 respondents involved, Makhashvili at al. (2020) revealed that adjustment disorder was the most pressing symptom, depression ranked number two and followed by anxiety. Again, women were reported associated with higher psychological distress than men. COVID-19 impacts human’s mental health.

In tourism literature, positive psychology theory has been widely used, happiness, well-being positive emotions and life satisfaction are the main variables of the measurement (Vada et al., 2020). Moal-Ulvoas (2017) explained the links between life satisfaction and leisure travel in the study. Travelers felt recharged, meaningful and satisfied with life. 

Positive Psychology from Travel

 

Happiness: Engagement, Positive Emotions & Meaning

Positive psychology is an overarching term, in this study, happiness would be the focus in relation to the positive outcomes of travel. Happiness is one of the emerging areas of research interest in positive psychology in hedonic travel in tourism (Filep, 2008). There are three key components in happiness, which are engagement (being involved in something), positive emotions (pleasant and uplift mood), and meaning (meaningful and purposive life) (Seligman et al., 2005). Happiness is often linked with tourist satisfaction. Filep (2008) revealed that people are happier during travel. It is convinced that travel offers an escapist experience to get away from their boredom or stressful daily routine. The question is how to make the memorable pleasant experience long-lasting. Happiness could be perceived when individuals travel to a preferred destination with consideration of experience economy in particular aspects of education, entertainment, esthetic and escapism (Pine & Gilmore, 2011) that increase happiness, for instance, traveling to Northland, Auckland or Rotorua in New Zealand, tourists could learn M?ori culture, enjoying performing arts or kapa haka, visiting esthetic landscape, and avoiding everyday responsibilities from work and home.  More scholars supported that travel increases happiness (Nawijn at al., 2010; Nawijn & Peeters, 2010). Undoubtedly, people at all ages pursue for happiness (Manuela Zambianchi, 2017). An individual filled with happiness leads to positive emotions (such as love and joy).  When tourists are fully engaged in activities through in-depth communication that strengthen a relationship, it promotes meaningful and satisfying state. Packer and Gill (2016) shared a meaning-making also formed by discovery novelty. In a higher level, tourists achieve self-actualization of exploration of solo travel on their own.

Virtual reality technologies (VR) are able to create a virtual world through computer simulation systems. Such a simulated environment provides users with opportunities for control and interaction, which is conducive to immersion (Guttentag, 2010). As an emerging technology, VR has accelerated virtual immersive environments and is initially applied as an educational simulation for education institutions (Ludlow, 2015). In recent years, VR technology has attracted attention and favor in the tourism industry, especially with the catalysis of the pandemic which blocked people from traveling outside. For tourism, VR techniques can be viewed as an immersive technology applied in a variety of fields of the tourism industry such as tourism entertainment, destinations management, and heritage preservation. VR tourism is a virtualized display of real scenic spots, destinations, or tourist experience scenes, which is a prelude to the travel activities of potential tourists or an extension of the previous travel experience (Kim & Hall, 2019). In the market, 360° VR is the most popular form of virtual tourism experience. Users can move in the virtual 360° panoramic view created by real-world spherical panoramic 360° images andn videos and change the viewing angle to get a sense of verisimilitude (LaValle, 2016; Slater & Sanchez-Vives, 2016; Beck et al., 2019). Such VR tourism allows the public to enjoy an immersive virtual travel experience through mobile phones, computers, VR headsets, and other devices on online APPs or videos without leaving home. However, the form of stereoscopic VR can only be used in specific scenarios through professional VR headsets or glasses.

VR Tourism and Experience

In today’s fast paced global tourism industry, advanced technology plays a major role in enduring long term success in marketing and promotion in tourism industry. Advanced forms of technology like augmented reality, emerging technologies and virtual reality are emerging trends in tourism industry (Kim,  Lee & Preis, 2020). According to Tussyadiah et al., (2018), the global pandemic situation has created numerous challenges with rigorous restrictions, travel ban and quarantines imposed throughout the world to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, Taufik, Kunz, and Onwezen, (2021) suggest negative impact on resident’s wellbeing including promotion of sleep hygiene and physical activity. Loss of travelling and increased challenges forces the tourism providers to identify an alternative way to safe travel and tourism. Tourism organizations are leveraging advanced technology like artificial intelligence and virtual reality to boosts revenue generation.  AR and VR are being used to enhance the tourism experience and promote visitor engagement during the pandemic situation. According to World Health Organization (WHO), psychological depression during pandemic is one of the major issues faced recent years.  Promoting happiness and enjoyment among the consumers is highly relevant in the tourism industry.The VR tourism helps to promote a pleasurable experience and entertainment to the tourists (Filep & Laing, 2019). Empirical evidence indicates that eudaimonia and hedonic experiences are positively correlated. It has been identified that memorable tourism experience has significant influence on destination attachment. It has been argued that tourism wellbeing is associated with certain specific values like stewardship. Wellbeing of the consumers can be associated with the feelings of being engaged into something exiting and meaning or having certain sense of responsibility towards the environment (Filep, 2014). The VR technology enables the tourism providers to provide engaging and effective travelling experiences to the consumers.

VR technologies can be used to enhance consumer learning, increase authenticity, reduced the level of ambiguity, and motivate the consumers to interact with the services. It has been argued by Tussyadiah et al., (2018) that virtual experience requires adequate knowledge and understanding about the products.  It has been argued by Tussyadiah et al., (2018), that there are certain challenges pertaining to virtual reality in tourism due to lack of real contact and actual experience. There is a significant gap between actual tourism experience and obtaining an indirect experience through VR technology. According to van Nuenen & Scarles, (2021), suggests that the limitations of VR tourism like unsatisfactory experience after VR usage has affected consumer perception towards VR in tourism. On the contrary as mentioned by Schiopu et al., (2021), the VR technologies might be highly demanded by consumers who are unable to travel due to various reasons as mentioned by Elboudali et al., (2020). The VR technology provides a better scope and opportunity for the people to experience tourist’s attractions without actual travel. Research and studies suggests that the sense of presence in VR environment has a positive consequence on the behaviour of the consumer. Pestek & Sarvan, (2020), suggests that enhanced sense of reality in VR technology has positive effects on the attitudes, behaviour, purchasing intention and belief of the consumer after the usage of VR technology.