How can the tourism industry benefit from new technologies like the metaverse?

Maximizing Tourism Industry Gains Utilizing Innovative Technologies such as the Metaverse

Source: A Brief History of the Metaverse

History tends to repeat itself, especially in the tourism industry.

Twenty years ago, with the expansion of the World Wide Web, some predicted that online travel agencies (OTAs) would replace all traditional travel agencies. However, today, they coexist successfully, and if the metaverse becomes widespread, the tourism industry can also benefit from it and continuously improve.

Today, in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) characterized by rapid digitization and accelerated innovation, you can sense a climate of fear.

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Will robots replace hotel employees? Will people take vacations in the metaverse? Will artificial intelligence take away our jobs?

The answer is a resounding no. New technologies are not obstacles, and if robots do indeed take on basic roles, they will create other employment opportunities. It’s time to redefine our positions, and that’s all there is to it.

The Reality of the Metaverse

“In the simplest terms, the metaverse is the internet but in 3D.” says Ed Greig, Deloitte’s Chief Disruptor, speaking of it as a form of digital interaction where “connected virtual experiences can simulate the real world or go beyond it.”

I stand with Ed on this because like me, he believes that the metaverse is a “tool that connects us as humans to our planet.”

The metaverse is a medium for sharing stories and building connections, and in the tourism industry, that’s everything we need. So, what are we waiting for?

In a recent blog post, WTM explored “6 ways to use virtual travel in marketing strategies.”

Virtual travel is an experience that allows individuals to explore new locations without physically going there. It combines various aspects of virtual reality with travel principles and combines a range of immersive experiences involving devices from smartphones to VR headsets, or in other words, what we refer to as the metaverse.

A Unique Sales Tool

The scope of using the metaverse for marketing destinations and products is enormous. It does not replace the travel experience, but it sparks desire, quite literally, selling “dreams” or aspirations, as the blog points out, a marketing tool that should be taken seriously.

For example, travel agencies can collaborate with hotels, tourism boards, and experience providers to offer virtual tours of accommodations, destinations, attractions, and more. By connecting potential clients or customers with these places, it becomes a new source of travel inspiration.

Knowledge platform Revfine highlights how the metaverse enhances the booking experience, providing engagement that websites cannot offer.

Revfine states, “Booking in the metaverse might be more like visiting a physical travel agency, allowing users to ask (real or virtual) agents questions, negotiate deals, bundle products, and make payments in a simple and convenient way.”

“Even when customers reach their destination, they can still use the metaverse to ask questions, order food and services, or view attractions and experiences that can be booked through the metaverse.”

Having a presence in the metaverse can also increase booking volume. For example, Thomas Cook’s virtual reality tour in Manhattan provided a taste of the city to visitors at the store, resulting in a 190% increase in related bookings.

Many organizations also offer virtual 3D versions of real-life spaces and locations. For example, you can now explore the Louvre Museum in Paris in VR. Virtual visitors can view exhibits, enjoy concerts, and even meet up with friends for a virtual stroll around the museum.

The travel industry can sell destinations and tours to customers planning to visit in person through the metaverse, as well as enhance the experience of tourist attractions and provide these experiences to people who are unable to travel abroad—it’s creating a whole new market.

Attracting and Training Talent

In a recent blog post at WTM, I discussed the outdated approaches the industry takes to talent management and welfare. This includes how it currently deals with recruitment.

Given the shortage of employees in every industry, especially in Europe, many companies are turning to the metaverse and virtual reality to expedite the selection and training processes.

An obvious starting point is to host travel and tourism job fairs and recruitment events in a 3D environment.

Virtual job expos can help travel companies, hotels, airlines, and many other industry organizations position themselves as great places to work. Potential talent can browse the expos to gather information, meet virtual company representatives, and even participate in initial interviews or skills tests.

Once employees are recruited, the metaverse can assist and speed up the training/onboarding process, with companies like Hilton and recently Emirates Airways announcing such initiatives.

Virtual Training in Action

Named the second-best workplace in the world for 2020 by Forbes, Hilton believes that when its team members truly empathize with the guest experience, they provide the best hospitality service. To foster this sense of empathy, Hilton partnered with a learning and development company to create innovative learning experiences using the VR platform Oculus.

SweetRush developed VR scenarios to help train hotel team members in handling challenging interactions with guests. Team members wear Oculus headsets and assume the role of guests in virtual settings, including front desk interactions, conference room setups, room service, breakfast service, and departures, to understand how it feels when interactions are poorly managed, resolved correctly, or handled in ways that exceed expectations.

According to a case study by Oculus for Business on this initiative, Hilton states that using VR allowed them to reduce classroom training from 4 hours to 20 minutes, and 87% of team members changed their behavior after undergoing VR training.

Meanwhile, Emirates, headquartered in Dubai, is one of the fastest-growing airlines globally. The airline has signed an agreement with Cubic Global Defense, which traditionally provides real military training systems, to train its crew members using virtual, immersive, and game-based solutions.

Emirates will be the first commercial airline to utilize this system, which combines “high-fidelity visual effects with immersive synthetic environment technology.” 3D classroom stations and touchscreen interaction will also be integrated into the training program.

As an airline considered at the forefront of innovation in customer experience, Emirates has also announced plans to soon introduce NFTs and “exciting experiences in the metaverse” for its customers.

Opportunities for Learning

The role of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the metaverse will continue to grow in new and surprising ways, but it is unlikely to replace physical travel.

As these new technologies are used more widely and become increasingly complex, there is an opportunity to assess what industry challenges they can overcome and what solutions they can provide. As Ed Greig from Deloitte said, we should also “learn from the mistakes on the internet,” not only understanding how to best utilize new technologies but also identifying how to mitigate potential negative impacts, from misuse to cybersecurity threats.

It is now clear that the metaverse opens new doors for enhancing customer and talent engagement, creating a 3D world worth exploring.

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