By Karen Espig

The tourism industry has changed significantly in recent years due to technological advances and restrictions imposed worldwide due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It was hit hard and has had to find its way back to pre-COVID figures.

Virtual tourism and hybrid travel have entered the mainstream to keep up with our demand to feed our curiosity and desire to explore the world. But what is it, and how can you get on board this new tourism experience?

What Is Virtual Tourism?

Virtual tourism typically combines film footage created with omnidirectional (360-degree) cameras, virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) and other software technologies to create an immersive experience without the need for being physically present in the location. You can go places, both real and imagined, or see things from a different visual perspective.

Imagine going inside Ramses V’s tomb in The Valley of the Kings from the comfort of your home. You can now walk through museums worldwide, free of crowds and with interactive elements and you can have these tourism experiences on your own timetable.

Another new way to explore a tourist location with a birds-eye view experience is where computer-generated content and narration or text accompany you along a prescribed tour, like this reconstruction of 5th century Athens, Greece.

There are many options for exploring with tools to access these tours, such as the Gez.la project, Clio, CyArk, Google Earth, and many independent content creators publishing on YouTube. 

Hybrid Travel

Hybrid travel combines the best of both worlds; you are physically present in a destination but are provided with digital tools to enhance the experience. For example, at the Louvre in Paris, you may enjoy the Mona Lisa more courtesy of a VR headset on site.

Another popular application of hybrid tourism is walking tours with augmented reality (AR). Often used with your smartphone, you can stroll around locations worldwide, learning as you go. Explore the neighbourhoods of Montmartre in Paris or London’s Soho, to name but two.

But why would you travel like this? What are the benefits?

Cost And Time Savings

For many, the cost of travel is beyond reach, or the logistics of aligning vacation time may prove problematic. Virtual travel tours are a viable option for the whole family to experience at a low or no cost. Nowadays, everyone can explore the mysteries below the sea or get an insider tour of Buckingham Palace any time of year!

Safety And Accessibility

During the pandemic, international travel was highly restricted in some areas, and numerous venues were shuttered completely. The only way to visit a museum or gallery was often via virtual walk-throughs.

Unfortunately, some areas of the world are inaccessible due to climate issues, conflict, or remoteness. Virtual experiences open up these options. Being able to experience the trek up Mount Everest or El Kurru, a remote archaeological site in Sudan, is a gift that these new technologies can provide.

Eco-Friendly Tourism

The sad reality concerning many ancient sites is that over-tourism has caused permanent damage. Some sites, such as the original cave paintings at Lascaux, France, are closed to the public. Happily, you can experience them up close with this virtual tour.

The tremendous upside to virtual tourism is that you can have amazing experiences and contribute to the longevity of sites such as Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, and the Great Wall of China.

What Is Missing?

So if virtual travel is so great, why wouldn’t you do it? Naturally, it doesn’t satisfy all the wonders of exploration or real-life experiences. There is something to be said about the real-time hustle and bustle, sounds and smells of an outdoor market like Ballarò in Palermo, Sicily, or the joy and satisfaction you feel when you launch yourself into new cultures and challenging tasks.

But that doesn’t mean you have to discard virtual tourism. It still can play a role in researching your next adventure and getting more precise information to facilitate a better travel story.

Advancements in technology continue to create new opportunities in all areas of our lives. The variety of virtual tourism and hybrid travel experiences will undoubtedly grow and improve, too. We can expect immersive options to become more life-like and more intriguing. The cost of VR sets will likely decline over time, and the social uptake of the trend will surely increase.

As for hybrid experiences, we will probably see more “smart cities” or venues interacting with our smartphones and tablets (and whatever else we invent!). I expect the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into travel tools will further expand the experience.

Whatever your travel style, there is much more available to you now thanks to this technology, and an excursion from your comfy couch might just be good for your mental health, especially at times when you can’t indulge in the real deal!