The travel industry experienced an astonishing decline during the pandemic, but that decline has now reversed. People have resumed traveling and the sector has regained its position in the market. Companies are now venturing into this space to try out new technologies. A recent example is Tripadvisor, an American travel company that has entered the metaverse.

Visit your destination before traveling

Travel-focused news website Skift broke the news that the travel company could develop a Metaverse experience later this year. “A trip around the world, in your backyard, or across the country is one of the most expensive things you can buy without trying it out first,” said Adam Ockman of TripAdvisor. Ta.

The initiative will enable users to visit popular destinations including, but not limited to, Dubai, New York, Paris, etc. before booking a trip. This allows multiple people or travelers planning a trip to a particular location to make decisions in advance. If you don't like a place, you can choose not to go there.

TripAdvisor is collaborating with Metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI) company MeetKai on this effort, and plans a similar experience for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). At this time, details about what TripAdvisor's metaverse will look like are still unclear. However, it may include experiences such as e-commerce, gaming, and social elements.

There is currently no definition of a metaverse, but many think of it as a mesh of interconnected virtual worlds. Some believe that his 2D web pages on the Internet will be rediscovered as his 3D world. For example, there is no need to scroll through his website for the retail company Amazon. Because users can simply walk around in a virtual world that was once just a page on the Internet.

A study compiled by the University of Illinois in June 2023 touches on the subject of how the metaverse can benefit tourism.

“This study shows that nature-based VR travel indirectly positively influences many participants' environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions through the mediating role of spatial presence and narrative engagement. ,” the document says. “In other words, feeling present in the virtual context and participating in the virtual content had the greatest positive impact. It could be a way to make it more sustainable and impactful.”

According to the report, the travel and tourism industry can damage the environment through carbon emissions from transportation, but metaverse technologies such as virtual reality (VR) can help offset this. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism recovered by almost 90% between January and September 2023 after the pandemic.