Will virtual universe fuel tourism?

New virtual travel experiences can be created from technology products such as 360-degree cameras, virtual reality glasses – Photo: BANGKOK POST

The COVID-19 pandemic has battered the global travel industry, but has also pushed the boundaries between travel and digital to be blurred, especially when Facebook Company (now Meta) introduced virtual universe closer to reality.

Although virtual reality cannot replace real experiences, if properly exploited, it still brings great opportunities for the tourism industry.

Thailand looking for opportunities

The latest, Thailand’s tourism industry deploys metaverse technology to accelerate the recovery of the smokeless industry.

Nithee Seeprae, official in charge of digital research and development at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said that the segment of customers using cryptocurrency could be the key to the tourism recovery during the pandemic. The country will need a long time to return to the level of 40 million visitors per year as before.

It also helps them reach the Gen Z customer group (born between 1997 and 2012), which is also a group that has a great impact on other groups.

According to Mr. Nithee, the metaverse will be a huge opportunity for the travel industry, from booking trips to buying NFTs (short for “non-fungible tokens” – non-fungible tokens) in virtual tourism.

NFTs are the only digital items with certificates of authenticity and ownership registered on the blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies. Thanks to NFT, the crafts of local communities in Thailand, photo collections… will no longer be geographically blocked.

According to Mr. Kitti Pornsiwakit – leader of the smart tourism department of the Tourism Council of Thailand, travel agencies can provide digital experiences with only 360-degree cameras to help tourists “go” to more places. with low cost. This also attracts the attention of localities that have not been strong in tourism before.

TAT is discussing more projects with many digital companies, including the Thailand Holideals program that allows visitors to use digital tokens to buy products and services, or the “Metaverse Phuket City” project. “Focus on tourism and healthcare…

TAT also plans to launch the Amazing Thailand virtual universe platform, establish a technology company under TAT to serve the Web 3.0 era. “Digital marketing tools will propel tourism towards new trends and reach new segments,” Nithee told the Bangkok Post.

New experience

Garth Simmons – Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea director of Accor Hotels Group – commented: “The emergence of the metaverse and still a long way ahead can be good or bad for the tourism industry. (But) it certainly represents an evolution of what is around us and is becoming a supplement to life”.

Tariq Al Mutawa, head of the Thai market of Emirates, said the airline has applied technology to help passengers have a virtual reality experience. Guests can view their seats from before booking or enjoy the view from the pilot’s seat while in flight. Emirates also plans to launch NFT items and a Web3 project (3rd phase of the Internet).

In fact, technology experts have also shown that Web3 can help historic landmarks and become a new business model for tourism. Many museums, historical sites, and ancient buildings are interested in attracting tourists in the virtual universe.

“A person usually only goes to each museum once, but they can visit it many times on the metaverse,” said Priyadarshini Raje Scindia, of the family that owns the 200-year-old Jai Vilas Palace in Madhya Pradesh (India). , said.

She even teamed up with 3.0 Labs Company (just established during the COVID-19 epidemic) to provide a service that allows viewers to “immerse” in documentaries. The company is also collaborating on other projects at museums and castles in Germany, India and Ghana. Not only creating new experiences, the projects will also generate funding to preserve these places.