disadvantages of ar in tourism

Advantages and Disadvantages of Augmented Reality

Augmented reality or AR is both a concept and an actual technology that involves providing its users with an interactive computer-generated perceptual information and experience placed on top of a real-world environment. Some consider it as a subclass of a virtual reality or VR system . Others have argued for maintaining the difference between the two. VR draws its users into an artificial virtual or simulated environment while AR augments the existing natural environment with computer-generated perceptual information or superimposes digital elements onto the real world. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of augmented reality.

Pros: Advantages of Augmented Reality and Notable Applications

Central to the advantage of augmented reality over conventional human-to-computer interfacing is that it enables more interactive human-computer interactions and improves and enriches further computer-mediated human-to-human interactions. This translates to specific beneficial and practical applications or use cases.

One of the more specific advantages of AR is that it expands the features and capabilities of computers and other consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, gaming consoles, and wearable technologies, among others. It fundamentally supplements and enhances the user interface and user experience of these devices.

Another specific advantage of augmented reality is that it does not replace the real world or natural environment with a simulated one. It brings in elements from the digital world into the perception of the real world. This is advantageous over simulated virtual reality systems that draw users into a simulated environment.

The aforementioned advantages have brought forth novel and practical applications, introduced new means of interfacing with machines or computers, expanded the capabilities or features of these equipped devices, and allowed innovative forms of digital communications. Take note of the specific applications and examples:

1. Learning and Instruction

Augmented reality improves the learning environment and makes the learning experience more immersive. It encourages better participation and collaboration between learners and instructors. Learners can also become active participants rather than mere passive recipients of instructions because AR enables interaction with the content or digitized information.

Some examples of AR applications in the learning environment include visualization of anatomy for biology and medical classes, driving and flight simulation training, and design activities in engineering and architecture, among others. AR helps in visualizing abstract concepts, enables the gamification of learning, and provides interactive visual aids.

2. Communication and Interaction

Remember that one of the main benefits of augmented reality is that it introduces a new means for computer-mediated interactions between humans. It makes communication more interactive and provides a richer experience compared to phone calls, texts, and video messaging. This translates to specific applications in wireless digital communications .

Remote or distanced collaboration and communication become more immersive, engaging, and appealing through the addition of digital elements. Platforms for digital communications are also provided with additional features. Examples include overlain effects in Zoom , Google Meet , and Microsoft Teams , and filters in Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.

3. Business Improvements

It also has several beneficial applications in business settings. AR can allow product developers to see and experience mockup designs before completion. It can also be used for developing and implementing interactive training programs. AR can also supplement virtual meetings and can improve remote work and collaboration between distanced team members.

There are also benefits to retailers. AR can improve or enhance the online shopping experience of retail customers. An example is a furniture retailer that uses AR for superimposing a digitized image of furniture on a particular real-world space or an online clothing retailer that allows its customers to preview clothing items as if they are in a real fitting room.

4. Navigation and Tourism

The ability of augmented reality to place digital elements in real environments can supplement navigation. Live visuals on actual locations can be overlaid with map data such as visualized directions and markers. Information such as map data, traffic status, weather conditions, and terrain can be shown on the windshields of automotive vehicles.

Several tourism-related agencies and companies have also used AR to supplement their tourism marketing activities. Several museums have been offering virtual tours. Other tourist attractions use AR to elevate the on-site experience of their visitors. There are also apps or devices that use natural language processing for real-time language translation.

5. Immersive Video Gaming

Remember that one of the main advantages of augmented reality is that it enables a richer and more interactive human-computer interaction. This has several and specific benefits in video gaming. Some developers have integrated AR into the actual gameplay. AR provides additional input-output features to make gameplay more immersive.

Pokémon Go and Star Wars: Jedi Challenges are popular examples. These video games have demonstrated how augmented reality can allow gamers to experience digital gameplay in the real world. The application of AR in video gaming involves mixing the virtual world with the natural world to provide a more interactive gaming experience.

Cons: Disadvantages of Augmented Reality and Important Issues

The biggest drawback or disadvantage of augmented reality centers on the offshoots that come from distorting the real-world environment or drawing users into a distorted natural world. This can look appealing in most cases but can also have backlashes and other negative implications affecting how users perceive their natural world and realities.

Remember that AR overlays digital elements onto the natural or real-world environment. This blurs the line between what is real and what is not. For example, when using camera or effect filters, this changes how a user perceives his or her world around him or her. This distortion of reality can create unrealistic expectations and overblown standards.

It is also important to note that AR depends on the generation and distribution of data in the form of computer-generated perceptual information and user-generated feedback information. This has raised several concerns and has also produced real consequences in several instances. AR shares these issues with other virtual reality systems and mixed reality .

Another notable disadvantage of augmented reality is that it is also dependent on hardware. It is not accessible to some people. Implementation of AR-based solutions also requires technical expertise. These create problems as regards applications in learning or instruction. The following are the more specific disadvantages and other important issues:

1. Issues About Privacy

It is important to highlight and reiterate the fact that the implementation of AR also involves the collection, processing, and redistribution of different data. This raises concerns over privacy and security. An example is an AR device that records the environment in real-time. This can raise legal inquiries in situations that prohibit video recording.

Some AR applications or services also collect data and information about their users. Examples are biometric data, device usage history, and digital self-portraits, among others. Nevertheless, in consideration of more stringent data protection laws, such as the GDPR of the European Union , there is a need for developers to follow standards regarding data usage.

2. Reality Modification Dangers

Another disadvantage of augmented reality is that it blurs the line between the real world and the digital world. This can have implications as well. An example is Pokémon Go which has stirred controversies at the height of its popularity. Superimposing digital elements onto the natural environment masks real-world dangers and makes users less cautious

The risks or dangers of reality modifications necessitate the creation of standards. Developers should not overload their AR products with digital elements. There is also a need to educate users to tell them not to become too dependent on a particular application or service to the point that they become passive toward important real-world cues

3. Content Quality and Relevance

The advantages of augmented reality are also dependent on the quality of a particular application or service and the quality of the augmented content. Specific applications or services with poor designs or irrelevant content can disrupt the user experience. A particular application or service should also work well or be compatible with specified classes of devices.

It is also worth mentioning that the applications of AR have expanded through smartphones and mobile apps. However, despite this fact, the selection of applications or services and features is still limited. It is not as popular as conventional content and the more common two-dimensional graphical user interface. The practical applications remain constrained.

4. Physical and Cognitive Effects

Some AR effects can produce visual strains and cause headaches. Prolonged use of AR headsets can cause discomfort due to focusing on digital information overlaid on the real world. Some of these headsets can also cause disorientation due to their narrow field of view. AR experiences that involve movement can trigger motion sickness in some users.

It is also worth noting that AR can bombard users with information and cause overstimulation and cognitive overload. The fact that it modifies realities can also have a psychological impact. The use of filters and specific effects in camera or photo editing apps and social media apps can create unrealistic standards about physical appearance.

5. Implementation Requirements

A particular AR application or service is also expensive and technologically taxing to develop and implement. The numerous advantages to organizations and users might offset these costs. However, in considering businesses and other organizations, those with fewer resources are at disadvantaged when compared to better-equipped organizations.

It also requires new technologies. Smartphones need capable hardware components such as a better image signal processor , additional sensors, or a dedicated artificial intelligence accelerator to run AR-related features. Running these features also has a higher power draw. Devices with older hardware might experience lags and overall performance setbacks.

Takeaways: Advantages and Disadvantages of Augmented Reality

Nevertheless, based on the discussions above, the core advantage of augmented reality is that it has provided a more interactive human-computer interaction and has enabled novel and more improved computer-mediated human-to-human interactions. This translates to several beneficial applications. However, despite its apparent popularity due to the mass adoption of smartphones, its actual applications remain limited and it appears that the current population still prefers the more common two-dimensional graphical user interface. It is also important to factor in the various disadvantages of augmented reality such as the privacy and safety concerns, possible psychological impacts, and its taxing implementation requirements.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality in Tourism and Travel

13 minute read

October 18th, 2023

Rock Paper Reality

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Augmented reality (AR) is revolutionizing the way we travel and interact with the world. From interactive maps and personalised recommendations to remote assistants and translation apps, the potential for AR usage in tourism is boundless. The virtual tourism market alone is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.2% between 2023 and 2028, to reach a valuation of $23.5 billion. There is no doubt that augmented reality is reshaping the tourism industry, empowering brands to remain relevant in a competitive and changing market space.

With informative overlays and augmented attractions, this transformative technology seamlessly blends the physical and digital to offer new immersive experiences. Augmented reality in tourism doesn’t only enhance customer satisfaction but enables next-level marketing and opens up new revenue streams for travel businesses.

Let’s explore the many ways that the use of augmented reality in travel and tourism can shake up your business with remarkable competitive advantages.

Key Takeaways

• AR enables travel operators to enhance their services by offering simplified navigation, on-demand destination information, and eliminating language barriers.
• AR helps agents and operators improve travel personalization—a key component to fostering engagement and customer satisfaction.
• AR in travel opens avenues for new revenue streams and improves consumer confidence by allowing customers to gain detailed insights before committing to a booking.
• AR tourism tools in hospitality establishments can significantly reduce operational and administrative costs. They can also help drive bookings to on-site services and improve guest experiences.

How Can AR Enhance Travel Experiences?

As the quality of augmented reality improves and increased accessibility leads to lower implementation costs, AR is becoming increasingly popular as a travel tool. Whether it’s a museum visit or a trip to a foreign country, AR promises to change, improve, and expand the very nature of travel and tourism.

Enabling the Use of AR Travel Guides to Explore Destinations Virtually

Although the experience of travel is proverbially priceless, the truth is that it can put quite a dent in your client’s pocket. An augmented reality travel guide can help ensure that the destination your clients spend their money on is just as beautiful as the brochure promises.

Using AR, tourists can explore famous landmarks, interactive museums, and natural wonders from the comfort of their own homes. They can view 3D models of iconic buildings like the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal and even take virtual walking tours through bustling city streets or far-flung wilderness. An example of this is the travel app Antarctic Heritage Trust AR , which takes users on an expedition to Antarctica. Here a user can explore the icy landscape with 360º images and videos and access artefacts from the buildings.

AR also allows tourists to learn about the history and culture of a destination through interactive exhibits, historical reenactments, and educational games. Augmented reality travel apps can depict how an area looked in the past and restore historical scenes and events. It can also invite users to preview exciting new sites currently under construction.

Historik is a tourism app that recreates historic buildings and objects at specific points of interest. By pointing their mobile camera at a landmark, travelers can access a visual representation of the history and significance of the site. They can swipe through artefacts and even set up self-guided tours.

The Benefits of an AR Travel Guide

By allowing your clients to explore destinations virtually with integrated AR, you’ll offer the following unique benefits:

• Increased accessibility – AR technology allows people with limited mobility or disabilities to experience and explore destinations that might otherwise be inaccessible to them.
• Improved buyer confidence – By first experiencing a destination virtually, travelers can make more informed decisions. When they book the real adventure, they’ll be sure to pick the right option for them, reducing the risk of refunds and complaints.
• Enhanced educational opportunities – AR can provide interactive and informative experiences that truly add value. It can be used to efficiently inform travelers about the history, culture, and natural wonders of a destination.

Leveraging AR to Navigate Unfamiliar Places

With its ability to blend the virtual and physical, tourists can use AR for navigation. When exploring an new area, a traveler can point their mobile phone camera into the street and sit back while an AR tourist guide superimposes directions on the view. With real-time directions and a visual orientation of where they are, they can navigate unknown places with ease.

For example, the AR tourism app World Around Me highlights nearby ATMs, restaurants, hotels, attractions, hospitals, shops, and transportation stops. Similarly, PeakVisor enhances outdoor activities by providing interactive guides for hiking trails, mountaineering, and adventure sports.

Using AR to Entertain Guests

AR can add a new dimension to your guest experiences at museums, art galleries, historical sites, and other attractions. Besides offering augmented reality tour guides on the traveler’s mobile phone, AR apps can also offer real-time information about paintings, artefacts, animals, and more.

For example, Museum Buddy offers self-guided tours, object narrations, museum maps, and a wealth of information for some of the world’s most popular museums. What would traditionally be a one-way viewing encounter can now become an immersive cultural experience, enabling visitors to truly submerge themselves in an era or environment.

Additionally, AR travel gaming apps such as Geocaching engage visitors in virtual treasure hunts or invite them to solve puzzles. This can take exploring parks, zoos, gardens, and historical sites to a new level of fun.

How Can AR Improve Customer Satisfaction in Travel and Tourism?

Integrating AR into customer experiences is key for travel and tourism companies that wish to stay competitive. In 2021, the AR market was worth $8.6 billion, and it is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 38% by 2030.

This rapid expansion only serves as testament to how powerful AR is in helping businesses deliver better customer service.

Using AR to Provide Personalized Travel Experiences

With competition fiercer than ever, the key to standing out is providing a high quality, uniquely personal experience. In fact, 63% of customers say they will stop using a brand if it uses poor personalization tactics .

With ready-made packages and all-inclusive deals, traditional travel itineraries and activities are often a one-size-fits-all approach. But what if you could tailor every part of your customer’s journey, certain that they will love what they get? You can. With AR integrations and features, your clients can book a room after virtually browsing multiple options, seamlessly navigate points of interest to them, and enjoy interactive, tailored itineraries.

Improving Customer Communication and Collaboration Through AR

Using AR, customers can leave reviews and ratings for places they visit in real time. This feedback is invaluable for travel and hospitality businesses and can help to enhance communication with your audiences. You could also consider implementing useful features like AR avatars or virtual representatives to guide customers through their travel experiences. These avatars can provide assistance, suggest activities, and answer common questions, improving communication and customer support.

How Can AR Increase Travel and Tourism Revenue?

AR features can captivate visitors, streamline the travel experience and drastically enhance visitor interactions. From informative overlays to real-time translations, these tools can drive engagement, confidence and ultimately consumer spending.

AR can also help travel and tourism businesses to move into new markets and expand their offerings in ways that differentiate them from their competitors. Here are some opportunities for building new revenue streams using AR:

Enhanced Virtual Tours

Users can explore destinations virtually, navigate attractions, and even interact with virtual elements in real time. This technology opens up opportunities to generate revenue through augmented tours, ticket sales, and partnerships with local businesses.

Virtual Shopping Experiences

AR technology can transform traditional souvenir shopping. Using AR-enabled apps or devices, tourists can virtually try on clothing, accessories, or test products before purchase.

This not only enhances the shopping experience but provides a unique way for travel companies to generate additional revenue. They can partner with local retailers to offer exclusive discounts and promotions for AR shoppers. This creates a win-win situation for both travelers and businesses.

Smartify’s eShop platform, for instance, lets users access art from galleries like The National Gallery in London and buy prints, souvenirs, mementos, and gifts directly from their smartphone.

Augmented Advertising

With AR-enabled devices, marketers can create interactive and engaging advertisements that blend seamlessly with real-world environments. Featuring creative design work and animation, these campaigns extend your brand into the digital layer and can be highly impactful.

Gamification in Travel & Tourism

With integrated game-like features, users can participate in interactive challenges, complete quests, and earn rewards as they explore different destinations. Jurassic World Alive is a prime example of this. The app invites users to find virtual dinosaurs in different real-world locations, enabling them to learn about the ancient creatures at the same time.

Applying this concept in various settings can make travel more engaging and educational. It also provides opportunities for travel and tourism companies to generate additional revenue. They can offer premium game experiences, extra features, or in-game purchases and upgrades.

AR as a Tool to Boost Sales and Conversion

By providing virtual tours of destinations, cruise ships, and leisure facilities, travel agents and marketers give potential customers a sneak peek into holiday bliss. This can increase interest and likelihood of booking.

AR also makes it easy for travelers to book day tours on demand. They can browse and engage in activity options from within an app—and use the same app to instantly book the activity. This is especially useful for weather-dependent activities or to avoid long lines.

How Can You Leverage AR in the Hospitality Industry?

Leveraging augmented reality in hospitality has the power to turn your customer experiences—and your bottom line—around. AR tools can reduce operational, training, and administrative costs, improve the guest experience, and drive more bookings.

AR in Hotels

Holiday Inn uses augmented reality to offer virtual 360º hotel tours to prospective visitors. These tours help users to:

• Decide which room size is the best fit for them
• Get a realistic idea of amenities
• Explore leisure and dining facilities
• Evaluate the suitability and capacity of conference and event rooms
• Explore room upgrade advantages and compare the benefits
• Gain a comprehensive overview of the facility layout, room privacy, noise levels, and views

Furthermore, you can integrate AR with social media platforms to create interactive and shareable content, increasing brand exposure and engagement.

Training Hotel Staff Using AR

AR can enable employees to learn in a hands-on manner. They can use AR tools to visualize complex processes, simulate real-life scenarios, and receive real-time feedback. They can also practise handling customer-facing scenarios in an augmented environment and receive enhanced training with interactive guides and demonstrations.

Improving Guest Services With AR in Hotels

AR brings a whole new dimension of convenience to the way guests interact with hotels. With virtual concierge services, visitors can instantly access information, make bookings, and request assistance by simply scanning their surroundings. Whether it’s making a dinner reservation, finding out how the entertainment system works, or getting directions to the fitness center, guests can access everything in the palm of their hand.

Holding a mobile phone camera toward the entertainment system might cause an overlay with instructions to appear on the screen. Or, as a user points their camera down the hallway, the AR application might superimpose directions to the restaurant, spa, or fitness center

AR can also enhance dining experiences. By scanning a menu, guests could access information or ingredients, or even see how the dish was prepared. They could also scan a bottle label, as in the case of Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise , to access games.

Similarly, prestigious Scotch whisky brand The Glenlivet partnered with Rock Paper Reality to create a virtual tasting room , so as to expand whisky access and education to a new swathe of younger consumers. The Sample Room experience immerses users in the heart of a 360º tasting room, where they can learn more about the story behind the brand’s 18-, 21- and 25-year expressions—all by scanning a QR code on the back of a bottle. An AR tool like this offers twofold advantages for hospitality establishments: educate staff on the fly, and enhance the guest experience.

Augmented Reality: The Future of Tourism

Augmented reality is transforming the tourism industry and shaping the future of travel experiences. It holds immense potential to offer travellers a whole new way to explore and engage with the world around them.

Rock Paper Reality can help you take full advantage of this technology to drive growth in your travel or tourism business. From Fortune 500s to start-ups, we’ve been helping companies leverage the latest technology to drive growth strategies for over a decade.

Our team of highly skilled innovators looks forward to bringing your augmented reality vision to life. Let’s chat .

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How to use augmented reality (AR) in the tourism and hotel sector

Eva Lacalle

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Are you looking to take your hotel to the cutting edge of the modern guest experience? Maybe you should consider AR. Tourism marketing can be brought to new levels just by unlocking the power of augmented reality. This technology is one of the ways innovation is not only changing the customer experience but also transforming the tourism and hospitality sectors, and the limits are still yet to be explored.

This article will talk about AR, and explore the ideas and benefits for how to use AR in the tourism and hotel sector to boost your business above and beyond the competition.

Table of contents

What is AR or augmented reality?

AR or augmented reality is a kind of technology that uses digital components to change a person’s perception of their surroundings using a compatible device such as a smartphone. Unlike virtual reality, which changes your surroundings, AR allows real-world elements to come to life to create more interaction, whether that be points of interest or restaurants. 

This technology is yet to be exploited to its full potential, but the benefits and the ideas for how to use it in the tourism and hotel sector are definitely worth exploring. It’s all part of having a more connected guest , allowing you to provide an experience that both increases engagement and that is also personalized and modern with services like online guest services and a self-service kiosk.

What are the benefits of using augmented reality?

There are many benefits to using augmented reality in the tourism sector, and with smartphones rarely out of our hands, there’s a lot of potential waiting to be unlocked.

Because AR can be accessed and amplified by mobile devices, it’s a great marketing tool for hotels to promote their business and provide interactive content in order to help influence traveler’s decisions – and boost trust among potential clients. 

Another benefit of AR technology is that it allows hotels and other services in the hospitality industry to enhance both the surrounding area and the actual product they are selling, i.e the hotel and its rooms. Once tourists arrive at your hotel, they can easily visualize the rooms and hotel without even entering, which is a great way to convert new guests and turn them into lifelong customers. 

Furthermore, AR allows potential guests to look at the products and services in a more interactive way , and can even instigate last minute booking decisions by providing readily accessible information like pointing the direction to your hotel with arrows. AR is essentially like having a 24/7 guide in your pocket which can also serve as a translator while at the same time making any tourist spot more attractive. 

Five ideas for how to use AR in the tourism and hotel sector

AR has many potential uses in the tourism and hotel sector, as we’ve already discussed. From guiding visitors through a city to providing reviews and important information for potential guests about your hotel; from helping customers find restaurants to enhancing tourist spots with a 3D experience – the possibilities are endless.

Let’s take a closer look at some ideas of how to use this technology to aid the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Excursions and attractions

Transform a traditional tour into something of the future by using AR to amplify top visitor sites, whether that be allowing people to see what the area looked like in the past or how the landmark transformed over time. This can be done with 3D models and other live representations of important historical figures.

Augmented reality can provide gamification, navigation, and quiz possibilities while on an excursion that can make the tour and the touristic attractions all the more interesting.  

Make your hotel more interactive

We’ve talked about how AR technology can be a great marketing tool to guide first-time visitors to your hotel, but it should be noted that it’s also a great way to retain guests and make their experience more interactive.

A regular tourist map can come alive with AR technology allowing guests to see places of interest, restaurants, bars and more. Your hotel restaurant can even use AR to allow guests to view the menu and ingredients in a different way seeing the dishes from their smartphones in 3D. 

Transportation

Augmented reality can be used to make navigating to your hotel more fun. The app can point out landmarks on the way, and make directions available in many languages. If your guests aren’t sure where to go there can be interactive arrows that point them in the right direction. They can even preview your hotel before they step inside. 

Guest services 2.0

Hotels are always looking for ways to provide a better experience to guests, and augmented reality can be a great tool to do so.

The technology can break language barriers between guests and staff so that explaining the features of the hotel is all the easier and more accessible. Together with a virtual concierge that provides online check-in and check-out as well as messaging, you can be sure to offer a digital guest journey that provides a stellar digital 2.0 experience. 

Integrates with other technology 

Use AR to integrate with other technologies like beacon technology. This allows your hotel to more easily market to your guests and upsell through push notifications. Through push notifications, hotels can provide special offers or discounts with partner businesses, or vice versa, the partner businesses can promote your hotel. This technology can even be used to unlock hotel rooms once the guests get close to their room. 

We’ve looked at augmented reality in the tourism and hotel sector, the benefits and ways to use this technology. It is without a doubt a powerful tool to bring about new business opportunities and to provide enhanced travel experiences.

Furthermore, it can allow you to attract potential customers, as well as expand your services by using new technologies to reach new audiences. Read more about reimagining the future of guest experiences.

Using modern devices and tools allows you to break down language barriers, enhance navigation and boost your bookings by offering a one-of-a-kind experience. Using new technologies increases your visibility and brand perception while catapulting your hotel into the digital age, and setting your hotel apart from the competition.

Eva has over a decade of international experience in marketing, communication, events and digital marketing. When she's not at work, she's probably surfing, dancing, or exploring the world.

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Augmented Reality Adoption by Tourism Product and Service Consumers: Some Empirical Findings

• First Online: 07 September 2017

Cite this chapter

• Azizul Hassan 3 ,
• Erdogan Ekiz 4 ,
• Sumesh S. Dadwal 5 &
• Geoff Lancaster 6  

Part of the book series: Progress in IS ((PROIS))

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There are evidences that, tourist adopt Augmented Reality (AR) for purchasing tourism products and services. Few holiday operators make this technology available for their customers. Arguably, AR as innovative technology supports tourists in pre, during and post-holiday mode and offer them better experiences. As far as, AR turns into an important research area, very few known studies are conducted. Thus, on the empirical ground, this study aims to bring out factors of AR adoption by tourists. Findings classify two different factor sets: positive factors of AR adoption by tourists and negative factors of not adopting AR by tourists. Innovativeness and user-friendliness features appear as the dominant reasons and positive factors of AR adoption by tourists while availability issue and technological issue appear as the negative factors of not adopting AR by tourists. This research offers some theoretical and managerial implications and thus a unique contribution to the limited knowledge of responsible factor studies of AR adoption by tourists.

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Hassan, A., Ekiz, E., Dadwal, S.S., Lancaster, G. (2018). Augmented Reality Adoption by Tourism Product and Service Consumers: Some Empirical Findings. In: Jung, T., tom Dieck, M. (eds) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Progress in IS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64027-3_4

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• AR And VR In Tourism

How Can AR and VR Technologies Benefit the Tourism Industry?

Published: 28 April, 2022 Updated: 30 January, 2024

Tourism market players have for some time shown an interest in AR and VR. But what sort of impact are these tools having on the post-pandemic industry?

As demand escalates for travel and hospitality services, we’re seeing a heightened interest in AR and VR tourism. Travel and tourism companies are now investing in AR and VR development to increase bookings and provide more immersive experiences to their customers.

Many different apps are currently being developed to enable customers to experience real-time versions of destinations that they wish to visit. For instance, our developers delivered a virtual tour solution, VResorts , for one of our clients. This application allows travel agents to easily create 360-degree virtual tours, showcasing various places of interest.

Furthermore, numerous other AR and VR-based apps are available, offering tourist agents various innovative tools for immersive city tours and showcasing hotels and attractions.

Read on to find out how AR and VR technologies are benefiting the tourism sector, learn about their most promising applications and the key drivers in tourism — and much more.

Key drivers of AR and VR and their market volume in the travel industry

At present the major factors that drive the demand for AR and VR tourism are the increasing awareness of AR/VR, advances in technology, and rising consumer spending on these innovations.

The global AR and VR market is projected to grow at a high CAGR, reaching $304.4 million by 2023. Contributing to the figures is the growing demand for travel and tourism. For example, in 2020 tourism’s direct contribution to GDP was about $4.7 trillion, despite the pandemic.

North America is currently home to the largest share of tourism-related AR and VR, due to growing investment by travel companies in advanced AR/VR tools. For its part, Asia Pacific is expected to prove the region with the fastest growth, thanks to government initiatives to promote and support the travel industry.

Some of the most promising areas of AR/VR in travel and tourism include travel booking services, games, navigation and hospitality.

What are the key challenges of AR/VR in tourism?

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism industry extremely hard, with innumerable countries closing their borders to travelers. According to a UN report, in January 2021 tourist arrivals worldwide were down 87% compared to January 2020.

As a result, tourism service providers had to change their business models and, because of the low return on investment, had to reduce the amount of money they spent on advanced digital technologies. Travel companies shifted their focus toward building safer infrastructure to ensure travelers’ well-being.

Nonetheless, even in the face of these challenges, AR and VR tourism has enabled the industry to enhance their services, offering stay-at-home travel experiences for people who are not yet willing to travel.

How can AR technology augment travel apps?

The biggest benefit of AR travel apps is that they help alter and improve people’s perceptions of their physical surroundings. They engage their senses to give them an interactive and immersive experience.

It is estimated that by 2023 the number of AR users will reach 2.4 billion . Travel agencies are likely to take advantage of this trend to create unique offers for their customers. Imagine you’re offering a sightseeing tour to London: how about adding an augmented reality museum experience to create a unique adventure for your users?

Currently, there are three key types of AR applications that can add value to the travel experience. These include:

• Location-based apps. These are AR apps that rely on GPS to track locations. Such apps are best suited to developing AR-based city tours and excursions or navigation solutions.
• Marker-based apps. Also known as recognition apps, they provide users with detailed information about a specific object, once it has recognised it. A good example would be recognizing art pieces in a museum and providing relevant details about them.
• SLAM software. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Software, also known as SLAM, uses complex algorithms to identify objects around a user. It understands the physical world through feature points and enables instant tracking and scene recognition. For example, the Walt Disney Company gained a patent for a “Virtual World Simulator” that operates using SLAM technology and simulates a digital world within a real-world theme park.

WebAR — a new term in AR development. Check it out!

How does virtual reality travel enhance the user experience?

According to Statista, the size of the VR market is expected to grow to more than $12 billion by 2024.

Virtual reality technologies gave birth to a wide range of VR travel experiences by providing users with interactive 3D tours that enable them to have virtual walkthroughs around a range of locations.

VR is a great tool for travel agencies that want to encourage more bookings and increase their sales. For instance, Amadeus is already developing and testing its Virtual Reality Search and Booking Experience as a travel booking option. VR will also help customers by enabling them to “try” the location before spending money on an actual trip.

Alternatively, agencies can sell VR trips and provide users with special equipment like helmets and other hardware for delivering an immersive user experience.

Key players in the global AR/VR tourism market

At present, HTC Corporation and Microsoft Corporation are the two largest industry players in the AR/VR global market.

HTC Corporation is a leading global company focusing on virtual reality and connected technology. Recently, the corporation introduced a VR Headset HTC Vive equipped with an input controller to enhance the 360-degree VR experience.

Microsoft Corporation focuses primarily on the development and manufacturing of software, personal computers and services, and consumer electronics. Microsoft has recently launched its mixed reality mounted display, which provides holographic AR.

Some of the other key players in the global AR/VR in the tourism market include VizioFly, World Travel VR, Apple Inc., Google, Dell Technologies Inc., Oculus, Ascape VR, Zco Corporation, VARS, and EON Reality.

What are the main use cases of AR/VR in tourism?

Among the applications of AR and VR in tourism with the most potential are virtual reality travel, virtual hotel tours, immersive navigation and guided tours, test drive excursions, enhanced museum experience and gamified tours. Let’s see what each of them has to offer.

Virtual reality travel

VR tourism will shape the future of travel by allowing users to visit a new place without physically traveling there. Obviously, it will not be a replacement for the actual travel experience, but it will help people explore parts of the world virtually or at least check a destination before going there.

VR travel apps can help tourists visit places that are remote or difficult to get to. One of the successful examples is the Patagonia project. It’s an Oculus 360 tour that allows users to visit Monte Fitzroy, Argentina’s most famous mountain, and its glacial lake, Laguna Sucia.

VR tourism can benefit not only tourists but also travel agencies. According to research carried out in Germany by Statista , around 50% of people would use VR to choose their holiday destination provided it was free, while 13% of the interviewed were ready to actually pay for VR.

Virtual hotel tours

Based on the “try before you buy” concept, virtual hotel tours are generally designed for customers who want to size up a hotel in detail before booking a room. Several upscale destinations like the Maldives and Dubai are leveraging virtual reality to showcase themselves.

For example, Atlantis, the Palm in Dubai has created a 360 panoramic VR video which provides a whistle-stop tour of the hotel’s main features. These include the lobby, the hotel’s biggest suite (the Royal Bridge), the renowned Nobu restaurant and more.

Another example is VResorts, an application delivered by PixelPlex. The solution enables hoteliers and tour agents to generate immersive virtual tours to guide tourists through hotel facilities, including rooms showcase, scenery overview, pool and beach preview, fitness and SPA walkthrough, and restaurant sneak peak.

Each user can access a unique VR tour video for every destination or tourist spot. The application enables the creation of playlists and customization of playback to suit individual customer preferences. Hotel managers or tour agents have the capability to monitor, provide commentary, highlight specific sections, or bypass certain parts of the tour, all while leading tourists through the virtual reality journey using an Oculus Go headset.

Introduce yourself to QTS — a 360-degree VR platform for generating immersive real estate tours

Immersive navigation and guided tours

AR travel is mainly focused on geolocation and navigation processes, especially for those who travel on foot. For example, Google Lens and Google Translate allow you to scan and translate maps, guides and street signs in real time, providing an AR overlay of the translation in multiple languages.

Google Maps is similarly equipped with AR functionality, which simplifies navigation for users who travel on foot by placing virtual signs with easy-to-follow directions on top of the real-world roads. The signs guide users on which direction to walk and where to turn, making direction-finding much easier.

American Airlines equipped its app with an AR overlay that directs users to key areas, be it a check-in desk or security checkpoint. Another example is Hub Hotels, which equipped their application with an AR london map. Hotel visitors can point their smartphone cameras at the wall in their rooms and look at routes and points of interest in London before they head out into the city.

Some companies offer guided educational tours to their users. Zaubar, for instance, has AR-powered tours which provide 3D learning experiences about a city’s past and present.

Test drive excursions

Virtual reality travel can also include test drive excursions. Just like checking hotels before booking, users can test drive various trips and places with the help of VR.

On the one hand, test drive excursions will help users work out if they want to spend their time and money on a specific trip. On the other hand, they can help companies to promote bookings by providing travelers with a better idea of the offered trip.

For example, British travel company Thomas Cook experimented with VR travel experiences and allowed their consumers to try out various excursions. The company reported a 190% uplift in bookings for NY trips after their customers tested the 5-minute VR experience in their store.

The test drive use case also creates ample opportunities for VR-based tourism marketing. According to the  research  ‘Virtual Reality and Implications for Destination Marketing’,

“VR is a more engaging form of advertisement that helps people feel like they are in the destination participating in the activities. Destination marketers should consider using VR to engage and build relationships with potential visitors, but need to follow up with more traditional call to action marketing.”

AR/VR-powered museums

Museums often suffer from a shortage of trained and experienced personnel, as well as from visitor congestion. What’s more, the excursions provided by museums are often very generic, lacking in detail and too hasty. AR technology can resolve these issues by offering visitors comprehensive guided tours around a museum or exhibition.

The National History Museum, for example, has a Skin and Bones app using AR overlay and 3D technologies. By pointing their smartphone at a skeleton, the museum’s visitors get a glimpse of how the specimen moved or looked, as well as learn the fascinating story behind it.

Similar experiences are offered by the American Museum of Natural History via the Explorer app, which has turn-by-turn directions to exhibits, customized recommendations and more.

Many popular museums, including Tate Britain and the Louvre, support Smartify — an AR app that enables visitors to hold up their smartphones to access more details and learn the history of specific art objects.

Gamified tours

You can also make use of augmented reality to create gamified tours. These tours require users to scan images to activate AR travel experiences or mini-games.

One example is provided by Ohio-based amusement park Cedar Point, which integrated the interactive gaming experience “The Battle for Cedar Point” into its app. When entering the park, guests can join different clans to compete with other visitors. They can scan ride signs and game symbols, which will trigger the AR experience.

The app not only keeps guests entertained but also improves dwell time at restaurants and merchandising stores, which eventually results in increased spending.

Find out what is the current impact of AR/VR on gaming industry

How does beacon technology enhance traveling?

VR and AR travel experiences can be also improved with beacon technology, which is being adopted by the hospitality industry in particular. Beacons are special AR technologies that use low Bluetooth connections to communicate with users’ smartphones.

At present, hotels make up the majority of the businesses taking up this technology. They place beacons on physical objects and strategic locations such as hallways and lobbies. The technology enables visitors to receive real-time information on hotel activities, special offers and more. Beacons have a number of other uses too, such as allowing guests to unlock their rooms or streamlining the check-in process.

Hotels both large and small are already using the beacon technology.  These include The James Hotels, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Marriott International.

For example, The James Hotels offer their guests a personalized tour of their art collection, which is customized to the visitors’ locations through beacons. Marriott incorporated beacons into their loyalty program, known as LocalPerks. As a result, visitors receive food and SPA discounts or golf deals in or around the hotel amenities.

If your business is considering implementing beacons, it would be wise to start with an analysis of the questions that your visitors frequently ask. Also, you should think about typical guest patterns for purchasing, and incorporate beacon technology in places where your guests often make a purchasing decision —  such as on the menu board outside a hotel restaurant.

How is the metaverse changing tourism?

The metaverse is currently one of the hottest topics, affecting multiple industries, so it’s interesting to see the role it is playing in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry. In case you have missed hearing about the metaverse, have a look at one of our latest articles — Embracing the Metaverse: What Should You Know About the Growing Trend?

The concept of interactive virtual worlds supplied by the metaverse could help boost user engagement with different locations and inspire tourism-related purchases. In this sense, the metaverse may be considered an upgraded version of virtual reality. It can empower users and help them to get a clear idea of what they might expect when visiting a particular destination.

For example, using their digital avatars, users might walk around a realistic recreation of their hotel, and gain a sense of how big the rooms are and what facilities the hotel offers.

Restaurants can leverage the metaverse to take their potential customers on cookery experiences, while agencies offering fun excursions can offer realistic experiences of future trips. All this helps to increase the booking numbers.

Find out about the role of AR/VR in the development of metaverse projects

Closing thoughts

AR and VR are definitely well worth implementing in the tourism industry, as there is so much they can do to enrich the traveler’s experience. From virtual reality travel to virtual hotel tours, test drive excursions and immersive navigation — there are plenty of exciting ways to apply the technology.

The AR/VR market continues to evolve, with many large corporations like Microsoft and HTC Corporation devoting themselves to developing AR and VR-based tools and to the related hardware (such as AR glasses and VR headsets).

If you’re a player in the travel and hospitality industry, we recommend you try out the capabilities of AR and VR technology. For our part, we will gladly help you to develop AR/VR-based applications or provide you with advice on how to use these technologies to complement your business offerings. Contact our certified specialists to discuss your future project.

Darya Yatchenko

Lead Technical Writer

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Redefining Travel and Tourism with AR and VR

Overview Augmented and virtual reality offer seemingly endless ways for guests to engage with vacation spots and far-away locations before, during and after traveling. Leveraging the technology has given the travel and tourism industry new ways to market to and connect with guests.

Travel agencies, hospitality brands and popular tourist destinations are taking advantage of technology to hook customers and create unforgettable experiences.

From enhancing the physical environment for visitors at a certain location to preparing travelers for what they should expect, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) give guests a new level of comfort and confidence in making travel plans and engaging in a variety of experiences — some maybe not even in the same country — while on a trip.

Pre-Vacation Test Vacation

Travelers who enjoy knowing what exactly they will be seeing to make appropriate plans and set expectations can now preview destinations, and even take a spin through a hotel room before deciding to book.

AR/VR technology allows hotels to show accurate 360-degree photos and videos of their spaces, providing an opportunity to sell themselves. Top tourist destinations and marketers are also using AR/VR to convince visitors with a try-before-you-buy method.

In 2016, travel company Thomas Cook launched an online VR campaign — best experienced with YouTube and the Google Cardboard — that allowed users to virtually move around a Thomas Cook plane and also engage with short films about several destinations. App Ascape , who has worked with Thomas Cook, also offers videos and tours of locations like San Francisco, Berlin, Cuba and more.

Similarly, a ski resort in Whistler, Canada, is letting guests test-drive the slopes as an immersive selling point.

Adding to the Experience

A variety of AR/VR experiences are already available for visitors to enhance their travels or visit some key locations from afar. Zoos offering AR/VR experiences allows families and schools across the world to visit the animals and learn fun facts about each one as well. Companies like CES® 2020 exhibitor HoloMuseum can help users turn any room into an interactive and immersive museum space, even one centered around dinosaurs.

In September 2015, Marriott Hotels announced the launch of Vroom Service and VR Postcards. In partnership with Samsung, the VR experiences brought users on immersive travel stories that followed a traveler on their journey through the selected location.

Combining artificial intelligence and AR/VR in the future may allow travel agencies and apps to create personalized travel companions. After users select interests and hobbies, they can  receive real-time facts and highlights that match with destinations as they walk through a city. The virtual guides can also point out hidden gems where the user is.

For those who do not have the funds to go on destination vacations, or for those who are unable to leave their house and travel far distances, many of these AR/VR travel solutions offer accessible, comfortable and detailed ways to experience the world.

Learn about some other industries AR/VR is benefiting .

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Blog - July 16, 2021

With its ability to enhance the real world with overlaid digital components, augmented reality (AR) is fast becoming the tourism industry’s favourite tool. While AR was invaluable in helping companies that rely on tourism keep their customers engaged during worldwide lockdowns, the innovative technology was already gaining traction even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Augmented reality travel is also likely to experience a boom in post-COVID-19 times. 

The reason the travel industry has always been interested in adopting AR is simple: AR is one of the best ways to supplement travellers’ experiences, and with more than three billion people owning a smartphone, no tourism brand can afford to overlook augmented reality travel apps if they want to stand out from the competition.

Here are some examples of augmented reality travel experiences available to any tourism brand.

1. AR portals 

One of the best ways to promote destinations, AR portals, which serve as an entrance to new and exciting virtual worlds, can transport customers to completely different environments. In this way, users can explore the world without having to leave their own space. Although similar to virtual reality, AR portals don’t require expensive equipment. Rather, individuals can explore the entire world with their smartphone.

For example, recently, TAP airlines took its customers to a famous square in Lisbon to promote the city as a destination. Users could step off a virtual TAP plane, look around the famous European city, and even take pictures of themselves there as if they really were touring Lisbon. This experience is beneficial in two ways. One, it’s a way for TAP to let its customers know that it flies to Lisbon without bombarding them with annoying ads. Two, engaging users with a holiday destination in this way can promote bookings and sales.

Culture Trip did something similar. To promote their first original film, The Soul of Soho, Culture Trip partnered with Poplar Studio to design Facebook portals that brought users to three iconic Sohos of the world in Hong Kong, London, and New York. Individuals could walk around the different Sohos and even “try” the food sold at the various stalls and restaurants. 

2. AR guides

When visiting popular locations and tourist attractions, it is commonplace for visitors to hire a tour guide to show them around. However, depending on the season, getting a guide may not be so easy — or visitors may be put off by the price. One way around this is to offer the services of a virtual AR tour guide. 

Virtual tour guides can offer a far more personalised experience to users. Depending on the destination, augmented reality travel guides may be historical figures, fictional characters, or real lifelike humans that provide one-on-one interactions and an immersive journey. 

For example, in 2018, visitors at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum were greeted by a hologram of Mae Jemison , the first woman of colour to explore space, who took them on a tour of the Space Shuttle Enterprise and walked them through the history of space in general. 

Also in 2018, London’s Natural History Museum worked with Microsoft to create a holographic David Attenborough, Britain’s most famous natural historian, who shared stories with visitors about some of the artefacts on display.

AR tour guides are not limited to cities or museums, though. In 2018, to promote the launch of its new cruise ship, the “Celebrity Edge,” the luxury cruise line Celebrity Cruises created an AR app with the intent of delighting and exciting passengers by showing them the most innovative spaces on the ship as well as giving them a peek at restricted areas. The tour included holographic versions of some of the company’s most important figures who acted as tour guides and dancers that were part of the ship’s live performances. 

Whether they’re exploring a new city, navigating a busy airport, or wandering around a theme park, navigating a novel environment or making sense of the information on a physical map can be a real challenge for first-time visitors. Augmented reality travel maps, which use image tracking technology, can make information on a map come to life by adding digital components, such as arrows and other details that point users in the right direction.

For example, American Airlines’ app offers an AR overlay that directs users to important areas, such as the check-in desk and security checkpoint, as well as restaurants and cafes. The app can also display additional information, such as wait times at specific security checkpoints and available security lines.

Similarly, The Hub Hotel from Premier Inn located in London’s Covent Garden displays a map of the city of London in each room, which guests can point their iPhones at to see points of interest overlaid on top of it, and receive orientation before they go out exploring. 

4. Gamified tours

Although travelling can be fun in and of itself, one way to make it even more engaging is to offer visitors location-based gamification for treasure hunts and challenges that involve collecting rewards. 

Gamified tours typically involve users scanning different images to activate augmented reality travel experiences or mini-games, and are especially appealing to children. 

For example, in 2016, the Ohio-based amusement park Cedar Point, also known as “The Roller Coaster Capital of the World,” integrated “ The Battle for Cedar Point ” experience into its app. Upon entering the park, visitors could join different clans and compete with other guests by scanning ride signs, game symbols, and t-shirts dotted around the park, which triggered an augmented reality experience. In this way, guests never grew bored, even if they had to wait in line for a ride. 

In addition to keeping guests entertained, the app also improved dwell time at places like restaurants and merchandising stores, thus increasing spend, and helped the park generate traction on social media. 

Getting started with augmented reality travel

With no way of leaving home, familiarity and comfort with virtual and augmented reality travel have grown tremendously during the pandemic. However, even though the world is emerging from lockdowns and things are slowly opening up, that does not mean that augmented reality travel will slip into obscurity. Tourism brands were using AR long before the COVID-19 pandemic made travel impossible, and they will continue to do so long after travel is back. 

With most travel brands still woefully behind when it comes to AR, developing augmented reality travel apps and features can go a long way in helping you stand out. Ready to think about incorporating AR into your travel business? Get in touch with AR experts at Poplar Studio today to talk about all things augmented reality travel.

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Pros and Cons of Augmented Reality in Different Industries

Tracy Watson

Ever since the release of Pokemon Go in 2016, augmented reality has really taken off among users prompting a lot of companies to start developing apps that include AR features. This opens a whole new world of possibilities for individual users as well as businesses to start using AR technology to help make their lives simpler and increase business growth. However, even though there is plenty of advantage of AR, there are some downsides as well. In this article, we will take a look at the pros and cons of technology in various industries so that you can make a more informed decision.

AR in the Medical Industry

AR offers a wide array of benefits for both patients and doctors as well:

• Better routine care – This includes everything from simple blood tests and all the way to surgeries. For example, even experienced doctors can have trouble finding veins in the patient, causing additional discomfort.  Augmented reality programming services  have developed an AR solution that solves this problem once and for all, called AcuVein.
• Assisting doctors – Also, new tools have been created to help doctors during surgeries by allowing them to be constantly aware of patient data during the procedure. All of the X-rays and MRIs can be combined into a single view, which will be displayed in 2D format.
• Interactive education – Before AR, doctors had to read books and journals to get an understanding of the material. Nowadays, there are AR visualizations that present this knowledge in greater detail. In fact, a lot of hospitals and medical schools are using AR for more effective doctor training.

Perhaps the only downside to AR in healthcare is that it can become addictive. Since it offers a greater level of immersion than regular apps, people can become addicted to specific apps. This can cause a lot of negative effects on their health if the user is not controlled.

AR in the Education Industry

Both students and teachers love the benefits of augmented reality in education, which include:

• Interactive textbooks – Reading textbooks for many hours is one of the most dreadful activities for pretty much any student. However, thanks to AR, the material contained in the textbook comes to life. All the student has to do is point their smartphone camera at the cover or page of the textbook, and they can see an interactive visualization of the subject matter.
• Help with homework – When students leave the classroom, they often have to deal with homework problems on their own. However, thanks to AR, students can get help with their assignments, even when there is no teacher around. They can point their phone or tablets at the worksheet, and immediately all kinds of hints and essential information will pop out.
• Safer lab experiments – When students conduct chemistry and other experiments that involve chemicals and dissection, there are many safety procedures that need to be followed. In a traditional classroom setting, this can be hard to control, but with AR, students are always safe even when something goes wrong.

One of the biggest downsides of using AR in the classroom is that it deteriorates human connections. For example, if we use the lab experiment example mentioned above, students usually have to work with a partner and interact with each other. With AR, it’s just them and the software. There are also some functionality issues that have to be considered, as well. If something goes wrong with the AR software, learning activities are stopped until the problems are fixed.

AR in the Tourism Industry

We all remember the days when we would travel to another country and walk around with a map trying to figure out where all of the landmarks are located. Thanks to AR, those days are long gone. Additionally, AR offers additional benefits, such as:

• Better navigation – If you love using apps like Google Maps for getting around, you will love the AR version of them as well. Basically, it superimposes direction and details on display, rather than just presenting you with a map.
• Information about sites – When you are walking about the city, the AR app can automatically send you notifications about any landmarks or important sites nearby. It can also provide users with all kinds of information about a particular building or location as well.
• Deciding where to go – While it is possible to read all kinds of brochures and magazines about a particular city or site, it does not quite paint the same picture as experiencing it for yourself. AR gives you the ability to get a glimpse of the location you are considering to see if it is worth traveling to.

We mentioned using AR for navigation earlier on, but augmented reality disadvantages in this regard is that it can be unsafe because users are engrossed in their devices and are not aware of traffic and other hazards as they are walking.

AR has Something for Everyone

Businesses across industries are already incorporating AR into their service offering. This allows them to build more meaningful and longer-lasting connections with their customers by providing them with tailored services or products. This is something that is becoming indispensable in the modern-day experience economy and can help your business stand out among the competition.

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Virtual and Augmented Reality: Pros and Cons

Jorge Azurdy

June 05, 2020

Flávia Negrão

In a past article, we talked about AR/AR concepts and statistics data such as the number of people adopting this kind of technology and how many people around the world work remotely. This time around, we will be focusing on the pros and cons of this leading tech and the costs of implementing it in our business (and maybe in our daily routine - who knows what the future holds!). The following are some key points to keep in mind regarding VR/AR.

Virtual Reality

• VR, when implemented properly, can be an incredibly engaging sensory ride. Using computer-generated imagery (CGI), there are no limits aside from money and imagination when creating other worlds, product demos, or spaces in novel and interesting ways.
• When applied to education, VR makes learning easier and more comfortable.
• Virtual reality users can experiment with artificial environments
• VR is a fragmented market. Headset pricing ranges from about $15 USD (Google Cardboard using a smartphone) to $1,500 USD (HTC Vive Pro) and many choices with widely varying capabilities in between. VR standards are in the early adoption stage and content created for one platform will usually not work with another.
• Content creation tends to be customized and, oftentimes, expensive. Best practices for effective and engaging content creation are still being worked out as well.
• VR is often an isolating, individual experience – it takes you somewhere else, a place removed from the existing environment. This is the opposite effect of events where one of the main goals is to bring people together and interact in a group.
• VR is slow for demos. It takes time to configure the headset, to put on/adjust the headset, explain the controls, and for the user to view the content. Even if the content is only two to three minutes long, an exhibitor would be lucky to get 15-20 people per hour through the system.

Augmented Reality

• AR, when used properly, can provide very useful and engaging information layered onto a real-world scene.
• Basic AR apps using smartphones are well-established.
• Apple’s latest phones/tablets and AR developer kit have some very significant new capabilities. Newer Google Android phones also have strong AR functionality. Smartphone users can see furniture in their own home before buying (IKEA), find their way to an airport gate (American Airlines AR), play games (Monster Park), see restaurant menu options in rotating 3D before ordering (KabaQ), measure distances very precisely (AR measuring tape), and much more. As these newer phones become widely used, it is likely that AR apps will see mainstream use with lots of opportunities for exhibitions and events.
• New tools have been created to help doctors during surgeries by allowing them to be constantly aware of patient data during the procedure.
• AR/MR headsets are pricey (Hololens: $3,500 USD; Magic Leap $2,295 USD) and have some serious limitations in their current forms. Both have a limited range of fields and the gesture controls are somewhat difficult to use. We will not see widespread consumer use until costs lower substantially and the form factor improves.
• AR/MR headsets are geeky looking and will be used only for specific applications; they will not be meant for everyday use in the foreseeable future.

Best Use Case

Despite several downside issues, there are various ways VR can be used effectively for exhibitions and events.

• VR site inspections : when used properly, the immersive realism of a VR site inspection of a hotel or destination can be the next best thing to being there.
• Demos : despite the slowness, a VR demo can show products in a very engaging way and, oftentimes, in a manner that could not be shown in real life.
• VR booth and stage set design : a large exhibit booth can cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before spending the money, a VR walk-through allows a buyer to see almost exactly how the display will look and make changes before building. This service is provided by exhibit and event design companies such as Freeman.
• VR Room Diagramming : 3D room diagramming has been around for several years; the next natural step to take this to VR. Companies such as AllSeated have been among the first to do this, providing a great way of experiencing how the room will look and feel before an event. It is expected that other room diagramming software companies with more functionality will follow suit in the future.
• Product demos using tethered tablet computers : AR can bring a product or a picture to life. It can add video, sound, and more. With a preinstalled AR app, all the attendee needs to do is pick up the tablet and engage with the demo. AR developers such as Zappar can open up a range of event-focused gaming, navigation, and product/event information details.
• Product demos using attendee phones : although basic smartphone AR apps have been available for a decade, they have not seen widespread use at events. But as AR goes mainstream in the consumer market with much greater capabilities than in the past, the opportunities for incorporating AR in product demos, event signage or obtaining other event information in an engaging manner abound.
• AR video walls and mirrors : incorporating AR in a video display and adding gesture recognition can provide engaging displays that, if done properly, will be guaranteed to draw a crowd at an exhibit booth or any other event space.

Some Examples of VR/AR Costs

VR application development costs come down to the kind of content you are aiming to create. Sometimes you will need a mobile VR application, other times you are looking for a VR game. Some applications can be built with simple 360 videos, while others will be built in full computer-generated based environments. 360-3D interactive video : $10,000 for each minute filmed + post-production. Example: https://youtu.be/xAbEm4_8K3g\ Computer-generated based environment applications : between $40k and $70k for a non-gaming mobile VR application. Example: https://youtu.be/IgvI2xdYp-E Computer-generated based gaming applications : between $50k and $100k for gaming-based projects. Example: depends on the complexity and other factors, such as the kind of platform it will be released on, the quality of animations, etc.

Marker-based AR or image recognition based AR provides additional information about a scanned object. An object is detected with a front-facing camera and then proceeds to provide information on the screen regarding the object. This allows the user to view the object in more detail from various angles or potentially rotate the image in 3D as well. Marker-based AR : $5-10k per 3D modeled object interaction and UI. Example: https://youtu.be/qhq5leJt280 Room Scale AR : $40-50k per room, depending on the number of objects. Example: https://demodern.com/projects/ikea-vr-showroom

Although it’s clear that there are many possibilities to immerse ourselves in the VR/AR world and take advantage of this leading tech, we also need to consider the applications and the cost before starting a journey into virtual and augmented worlds.

About Encora

Encora accelerates enterprise modernization and innovation through award-winning digital engineering across cloud, data, AI, and other strategic technologies. With robust nearshore and India-based capabilities, we help industry leaders and digital natives capture value through technology, human-centric design, and agile delivery.

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25 Important Disadvantages of Tourism

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

I am sad to say that there are many disadvantages of tourism. Tourism has the power to do so much good, but equally it also has the power to do so much bad. The key is careful and sufficient tourism planning and management. So what are these disadvantages of tourism, why are they so bad and how can we overcome them? Read on to find out…

The 3 categories of disadvantages of tourism

Natural habitat disruption, resource depletion, climate change, wildlife disturbance, coral reefs damage, seasonal nature of tourism, economic dependence, revenue leakage, unequal distribution of income, opportunity cost, over-reliance on a single industry, environmental costs, cost of living, cultural commodification, cultural displacement, commodification of culture, overcrowding, increased crime, social inequality, change in local lifestyles, loss of local employment, inflation in property prices, sustainable tourism practices, involving local communities, education and awareness, diversification of the economy, government regulations and policies, infrastructure development, long-term planning, adaptable management strategies, the disadvantages of tourism- to conclude, the disadvantages of tourism.

As one delves into the captivating world of globetrotting, it is easy to become enamored with the captivating allure of exploration, adventure, and cross-cultural interactions that define the tourist experience. Tourism, undoubtedly, contributes significantly to the economic prosperity of nations, providing employment , generating foreign exchange, and fostering cross-cultural understanding . Yet, there exists a darker side to this glittering façade, one that, more often than not, escapes the radar of mainstream discourse.

This post will highlight the less celebrated aspects of tourism, focusing on its potential downsides that are, somewhat ironically, entwined with its many benefits. Despite the ubiquity of tourism and its significance in today’s globalised world , it is crucial to address its potential for harm in the name of balance and long-term sustainability .

The downsides of tourism are numerous, encompassing aspects such as the environment, culture, economy, and social fabric of tourist destinations . Through this article we will delve into these impacts, seeking to not merely criticise, but also to inspire a rethinking of our attitudes and practices around tourism. By doing so, we endeavour to shed light on how we might navigate these complex issues and foster a more responsible and sustainable approach to tourism .

The disadvantages of tourism can be broken down into three categories: economic, environmental and social. I have summarised these below for you.

Now lets dig a bit deeper into the disadvantages of tourism outlined above one by one…

Environmental Disadvantages of Tourism

If responsible tourism practises are not employed, tourism can, and does, cause significant harm to the environment. I have outlined some of the most common examples of the environmental disadvantages, also known as environmental impacts of tourism , of tourism below for you.

Tourism often leads to deforestation and disruption of natural habitats to accommodate tourists , causing a significant loss of biodiversity. This could involve clearing land for accommodations or other facilities, thereby endangering flora and fauna unique to the area.

How can we mitigate or reduce this disadvantage of tourism?

Sustainable tourism practices, including limiting development in sensitive areas, promoting eco-tourism , and educating tourists about responsible travel , can help preserve natural habitats.

Tourism can strain natural resources, particularly water and food supplies, especially in regions where these resources are already scarce. The increased demand can lead to overexploitation, endangering the long-term availability of these resources.

Implementing resource management strategies, promoting the use of renewable resources, and encouraging tourists to respect local resources can help mitigate this issue.

Tourism contributes to various forms of pollution. Air pollution results from transport, noise pollution from increased activity, litter from irresponsible disposal of waste, and other types of pollution, all of which can degrade local environments and disturb wildlife.

Establishing and enforcing environmental regulations, utilising environmental impact surveys , promoting green travel options, and educating tourists about proper waste disposal can help reduce pollution.

High tourist traffic can cause physical damage to natural landscapes. For example, excessive hiking and foot traffic can lead to soil erosion and degradation of historic sites, damaging these irreplaceable resources.

Restricting access to vulnerable areas, creating designated pathways, and educating tourists about the importance of preserving these sites can help reduce erosion.

The carbon footprint from travel, especially air travel, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, leading to global climate change. Tourism’s contribution to climate change can have far-reaching consequences for ecosystems worldwide.

Promoting low-carbon transportation options , implementing carbon offset programs, and raising awareness about the environmental impacts of travel can help mitigate tourism’s contribution to climate change.

Human interaction can disturb the natural behaviour of wildlife. Some species may become overly dependent on human food sources, while others may react aggressively or retreat from their natural habitat, disrupting the balance of local ecosystems.

Educating tourists about respectful wildlife interaction, enforcing rules about feeding wildlife, and promoting non-intrusive wildlife viewing experiences can help to reduce disturbance.

Activities like snorkelling and diving can unintentionally damage delicate coral reefs . Additionally, increased boat traffic can lead to oil leaks and other pollution, posing a threat to marine life.

Implementing and enforcing marine protected areas, educating tourists about coral-friendly snorkelling and diving practices, and monitoring boat activity can help protect coral reefs.

Economic Disadvantages of Tourism

Unfortunately, there are many economic disadvantages of tourism, also known as negative economic impacts of tourism . I have outlined the most common below.

Tourism tends to be seasonal, often peaking during particular times of the year. This fluctuation can lead to periods of high employment followed by periods of widespread job loss, creating economic instability. This cyclical pattern can be challenging for local communities that heavily depend on tourism, making budgeting and financial stability a strenuous task.

Diversifying tourism offers, promoting off-peak travel and developing other forms of sustainable local industries can help smooth out the seasonal fluctuations of tourism and provide more stable employment.

The increased demand for goods and services during the tourist season often leads to price inflation . This surge in prices can result in an increased cost of living for local residents, making everyday goods and services more expensive and less accessible.

Implementation of policy measures to control inflation and monitoring of prices, especially of essential goods, during the peak season can help ensure that locals are not negatively impacted.

Regions that rely heavily on tourism can become economically vulnerable in the face of downturns in the industry. These downturns can be triggered by numerous factors such as natural disasters, political instability, global pandemics, or even changing travel trends. This economic fragility poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of local communities.

Diversifying the local economy by promoting and developing other industries can help reduce dependence on tourism and build economic resilience.

Often, a substantial proportion of the revenue generated by tourism does not benefit the local economy but ends up in the hands of foreign-owned businesses , such as international hotel chains and airlines. This phenomenon, known as revenue leakage, can undermine the local economic benefits of tourism.

Encouraging and investing in locally owned businesses and promoting local goods and services can help ensure that more of the tourism revenue stays within the local economy.

The economic benefits of tourism are often unevenly distributed within a community, exacerbating income disparities. More affluent regions or populations tend to gain more from tourism, while less affluent regions or marginalised populations gain less, exacerbating economic inequality.

Implementing policies and practices that promote equitable distribution of tourism revenue can help counter this problem. This might include investing in community-based tourism projects and ensuring fair wages for all tourism-related workers.

Investment in tourism-related infrastructure and services can lead to the neglect of other sectors of the local economy, potentially limiting overall economic development. The resources devoted to tourism could be used elsewhere, potentially offering better long-term economic outcomes.

Balanced investment in various sectors of the economy can help ensure broader economic development, reducing the opportunity costs associated with over-investment in tourism.

Over-dependence on tourism can lead to the neglect of other potential industries, limiting the diversification of the local economy. This lack of diversification can leave the local economy vulnerable to shocks in the tourism industry.

Diversifying the local economy by promoting various industries can help ensure economic stability even when tourism experiences downturns.

Tourism often drives environmental degradation and loss of natural resources, which have their own economic costs. These can include the expense of building infrastructure in sensitive areas, cleaning up pollution , and the lost opportunities for alternative uses of the land .

Implementing sustainable tourism practices that prioritise environmental conservation can help to reduce these costs. This includes regulating tourist activities in sensitive areas and investing in sustainable infrastructure.

Increased tourism can raise property prices and the cost of living, making it challenging for local residents to afford their community. As demand for properties increases with tourist influx, locals may be priced out of their own housing market.

Governments can implement regulations and controls on property prices, especially in regions that are experiencing or are at risk of high tourism-driven property inflation. Policies can also be put in place to ensure affordable housing for local residents is protected and preserved.

The commercialisation of local culture and traditions for the tourist market can lead to “ staged authenticity ,” where cultural activities are modified to cater to tourists. This commodification can potentially lead to the loss of cultural heritage and its inherent economic value, damaging the uniqueness that made the location attractive in the first place.

Policies that protect and promote the preservation of cultural heritage can help counter this effect. Additionally, educating tourists about the importance of preserving local culture and promoting authentic cultural exchanges can lead to more respectful and sustainable tourism practices.

Social Disadvantages of Tourism

There are also many social disadvantages of tourism, also known as social impacts of tourism , that need to be considered. I have outlined the major issues that are commonly encountered below.

The influx of tourists can lead to displacement of local populations and their cultural identities, resulting in a loss of cultural diversity . This phenomenon often results from the pressure to accommodate tourists and can erode the local way of life.

Respecting and protecting local cultures, promoting responsible tourism , and involving local communities in tourism planning can help mitigate cultural displacement.

The commercialisation of local customs and traditions for the tourist market can lead to the loss of cultural authenticity and exploitation of cultural heritage. Traditional practices may be transformed into spectacles for tourists, sometimes leading to staged and insincere representations.

Promoting cultural understanding and respect among tourists, supporting community-owned tourism initiatives, and setting guidelines for respectful cultural engagement can help preserve cultural authenticity .

An influx of tourists can lead to overcrowding, straining local facilities and infrastructure, and reducing the quality of life for local residents. This can create tension between tourists and local communities and degrade the visitor experience.

Implementing visitor management strategies, promoting off-peak travel, and developing infrastructure in a sustainable way can help manage overcrowding.

Some destinations may experience an increase in crime rates associated with tourism, including theft, drug trafficking, and exploitation. This can disrupt the local social fabric and lead to unsafe conditions for both tourists and locals.

Enforcing laws, ensuring adequate security measures, and educating tourists about safe practices can help curb crime associated with tourism.

Tourism can exacerbate social inequalities if the financial benefits of tourism are not evenly distributed within the community. This can lead to social tension and resentment within the local population .

Ensuring fair wages, promoting local ownership of tourism businesses, and implementing policies that promote the equitable distribution of tourism revenue can help address social inequality.

The presence of tourists can influence the behaviour and attitudes of local people, sometimes encouraging undesirable behaviours such as begging or petty crime. This can disrupt local norms and create social issues.

Promoting responsible tourism, involving local communities in decision-making processes, and ensuring that tourism benefits flow to the community can help reduce negative influences on local lifestyles.

In some cases, tourism can lead to the displacement of traditional industries, causing job loss among local populations. This can destabilise local economies and disrupt social structures.

Encouraging sustainable and inclusive tourism development that complements rather than replaces local industries can help preserve local employment.

An influx of tourists can increase demand for real estate, inflating property prices and potentially making it unaffordable for locals to own property in their own community. Companies such as Airbnb can exasperate this issue. This can lead to social displacement and exacerbate economic inequality.

Implementing policy measures to control property price inflation and ensuring affordable housing for locals can mitigate this impact.

How Can Destinations Balance The Disadvantages of Tourism With The Advantages of Tourism?

Balancing the disadvantages of tourism and advantages of tourism is a delicate task requiring thorough planning, strategic management, and conscious efforts from all stakeholders involved, including tourists, the local community, and the government. Below are some strategies that can help:

This approach focuses on minimising the disadvantages of tourism while maximising the advantages of tourism. These practices might include limiting the number of tourists allowed in a certain area at any one time, promoting off-peak travel, and supporting eco-tourism initiatives.

By involving local communities in the planning and decision-making processes, destinations can ensure tourism development aligns with local needs and values. This can also help distribute the economic benefits of tourism more evenly, reducing social inequality.

Raising awareness among tourists about the impacts of their behaviour can lead to more respectful and environmentally friendly behaviours. This can be achieved through informational campaigns, signage, and guidelines, all of which can help to reduce some of the disadvantages of tourism.

By promoting other sectors of the economy alongside tourism, destinations can mitigate the risk of over-dependence on tourism and provide alternative employment options for local communities.

Governments can establish regulations and policies to manage the disadvantages of tourism. This might include zoning laws to protect sensitive environments, regulations to prevent exploitation of cultural heritage, and policies to ensure equitable distribution of tourism revenue.

Thoughtful and sustainable infrastructure development can manage the influx of tourists, mitigate environmental impacts, and enhance the quality of life for local residents.

Taking a long-term perspective in tourism development can help balance immediate economic benefits with the need to preserve a destination’s cultural and natural resources for future generations.

Given the unpredictability of tourism demand , adaptable management strategies can help destinations respond to changes and mitigate negative impacts. This might involve regular monitoring of tourism impacts, feedback mechanisms, and flexibility in policy implementation.

By adopting these strategies, destinations can work towards a more balanced and sustainable tourism model that reaps the benefits of tourism while managing the disadvantages of tourism.

As you can see, there are unfortunately many disadvantages of tourism. However, just because these disadvantages of tourism currently exist, doesn’t mean that have to continue. With adequate planning, policies and governance and with sustainability principles and long-term planning at the forefront of our minds, we can limit the disadvantages of tourism significantly.

If you enjoyed this article about the disadvantages of tourism, I am sure you will enjoy these too:

• Leiper’s Tourism System: A simple explanation
• What is industrial tourism and why is it so popular?
• What is e-tourism and how is it changing travel?
• 150 fascinating types of tourism you didn’t know existed
• 50 fascinating facts about the travel and tourism industry

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10 Advantages And Disadvantages Of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a modernized technology in which one is given the opportunity to have a real life experience of a virtual world that might or might not be similar to the real world. It is a bit different from augmented reality (AR). 

Virtual reality is based on an advanced combination of both programmed software and hardware. There are numerous applications of VR technology in areas such as engineering, gaming, education, media, medicine, films, and other fields.

Present-day virtual reality technology utilizes multi-projected environments or a virtual reality headset to produce lifelike sounds, images, and other sensations that simulate the physical presence of a user in the simulated world.

Anyone using virtual reality equipment is practically able to explore the virtual reality environment and is also capable of interacting with virtual objects or structures.

Virtual reality integrates video and aural feedback, but with the aid of haptic technology, force feedback, and other sensory types are allowed. Rather than seeing a display in front of them, people are submerged and allowed to communicate within virtual worlds.

By replicating multiple senses, such as hearing, vision, smell, and touch, the machine becomes a facilitator for the artificial environment.

Lately, numerous industries are acquiring new heights of customer commitment by exploiting the virtual reality technology and, hence, its reputation has been mounting over the years. Moreover, with the gradual decrement in the VR devices’ pricing, the availability of virtual reality technology is expanding to a wider audience, which will eventually heighten the opportunity for more audiences to experience the unworldly phenomenon right in their own homes.

Since the mid-1400s, the term “virtual” had been used to mean something truthful enough to produce any effect, but not physically. Ever since 1959, in the sense of a computer, virtual has been referred to as appearing with the aid of software, but physically not existing thereafter. Similar to other types of expertise, there are certain advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality, and this article will cover them all in detail.

Advantages of Virtual Reality

This technology does come with several benefits, and several areas have been positively affected by the implementation of this technology. Some of the positive impacts of virtual reality are listed below:

1. More Than Real

Virtual reality, in comparison, offers high quality visualizations that give the user a feeling of being in a different world while playing games, or watching the scenery, etc. Playing games using virtual reality gives the user the impression of actually being inside the game experiencing every move as if it were real with all those visual and sound effects along with countless other sensations.

Related: Here are the pros and cons to video games

2. Safe Practice / Simulation

Another of the countless other benefits of virtual reality technology is using it for training purposes and practice. It can simulate potentially dangerous real-world operations like surgery, combat, flight. One can easily learn to perform operations, fly a plane, and many more without risking theirs’ and/or others’ lives.

3. Detailed

Planning a vacation can be tiring work, and if the planned location doesn’t work out as hoped, it is bound to worsen one’s mood. But with the virtual reality technology one can simply get a detailed and sharp view of any tourist location and decide if the trip is worth their time and effort.

Virtual reality comes in very handy in our day-to-day activities such as shopping. Suppose you’re shopping for interior design for your house. However, just looking at the designs doesn’t make it simpler to decide a perfect match and thus a confusing situation arises. Such confusion can easily be handled by using virtual reality to put together the designs and the interior of your house for a well-versed decision.

5. Increased Learning Possibilities

Using VR technology, doctors can understand any medicine’s new qualities and determine its side-effects, giving them a clear idea of the outcome. Fields such as content writing and editing can also benefit from the virtual reality technology by easing in detecting faults through certain software arrangements.

Disadvantages of Virtual Reality

Regardless of the numerous merits offered by virtual reality technology, there are still some disadvantages of virtual reality that need to be acknowledged when considering this type of technology. The cons you need to consider are listed below.

1. Intransigent

Unlike real-world systems, virtual reality doesn’t offer flexibility in making changes to the pre-set program sequence. Say someone is in the classroom and wants to raise some questions, in the real world they are free to do so as well as to make suggestions, but in a virtual reality such isn’t feasible.

2. Obsession

Anyone can become obsessed with anything if they get involved with it for a longer period. This is especially the case when something as astounding as virtual reality is taken into account. Many tend to like games that allow violence and other illegal activities, but if that turns into addiction it’s possible they will  commit the crime in the real world.

3. Expensive

Regardless of the fun and amazing experience provided by the virtual reality technology, not everyone is capable of affording the same tech as it does not come cheap. Irrespective of the decrement in its price over the years, virtual reality still hasn’t been cheap enough to be affordable to most populations.

4. Isolated

After spending significant amounts of time in a virtual reality, they become addicted to it and tend to enjoy it more there than in the real world. Thus, they spend more time with their friends in the virtual reality, just like in games. This eventually leads them to become isolated from the real world.

One can always train to either perform surgery or fly a plane, using virtual reality to an extent. But training in the virtual world and real-world are entirely different things. They might not be able to give their best when exposed to the real world because any action they take will have real consequences.

Finally, after understanding all the advantages and disadvantages of virtual reality, one ought to understand the meaning of the virtual world and its characteristics. Briefly, one can say that virtual reality can be astounding and educational, and it can also aid in reducing the build-up stress by granting them the joy of visiting another world virtually.

Needless to say, virtual reality is very expensive and can easily cause some people to get addicted as well. Addiction brings forth several negative health effects such as depression, anxiety, etc. One can’t perfect their skills regardless of the amount of training they do in the virtual reality, and thus the experience acquired there will never be recognized as real or sufficient.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality

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Pros and Cons of Tourism

Be it Niagara Falls, The Grand Canyon, or the Amazon Rainforest, these places have numerous reasons to attract tourists every year. Tourists love to visit such spots looking for fun, amusement, and even finding peace of mind. Tourism has turned into a thriving industry in many countries. Governments and local communities reap the benefits of tourism in many different ways. But those advantages come with certain risks as well. However, like everything else, there are pros and cons of tourism . You should be taking a closer look at the good and the bad of tourism before you set a vacation schedule alone or with your friends and families.

What are the Pros of Tourism?

In 2021, tourism to Grand Canyon National Park made a significant contribution of $710 million to the local economy, reports National Park Service.

1. Economic Boost

Tourism is a significant contributor to the economy of a country. By attracting tourists, nations can create sustainable revenue streams, generate job opportunities, and boost growth across several sectors. According to a report by NPS, the park welcomed approximately 4.5 million visitors to the Grand Canyon, spending an estimated $710 million in the surrounding gateway regions.

2. Cultural Exchange

Travel can bring people together and provide a unique opportunity to share ideas and experiences. Travelers often have an open mind about different cultures and customs, so they are eager to explore new places. This type of exchange can break down cultural barriers between countries by allowing each party to understand the other's culture better. This exchange of cultural values can be counted as one of the major advantages of tourism.

3. Environmental Conservation

All natural heritages are tourist spots, and people come to admire the view. One of the significant advantages of tourism is that it can help protect and preserve the environment. Local governments can invest the revenue generated by tourism for the betterment of environmentally sensitive regions and areas with fragile ecosystems.

4. Improved Infrastructure is Among the Pros of Tourism

With the influx of tourists, countries can consider upgrading their infrastructure to accommodate visitors' needs. This includes constructing new airports, roads, accommodations, and public facilities such as parks and museums. This positive change can be felt both by the tourists and the inhabitants.

5. Global Recognition

Tourism is an essential part of many countries economies, and it can also provide significant global recognition for the destination. A well-designed tourism strategy that attracts a high volume of international visitors can bring in foreign money, create jobs, and help to develop infrastructure. It also raises awareness about an area, leading to increased interest from the rest of the world.

What are the Cons of Tourism?

Besides the positive changes, tourism also has its share of downsides. Most of the cons of the tourism industry are associated with the misuse of natural resources. Some of the other problems with tourism include:

1. Environmental Damage

Tourism can lead to environmental damage in many ways. For example, it can impact water resources through increased water and wastewater production demand. It can also add to pollution by generating emissions from transportation as visitors travel around the area. Additionally, tourists may increase pressure on local land resources, leading to deforestation and loss of habitats for native species.

2. Displaced Communities

Tourism often brings economic benefits to local communities. Still, when done in a way that does not consider the local community's needs and aspirations, it can cause displacement. Communities may be displaced from their traditional lands or homes, pushing them away from the resources they need for subsistence. This can be particularly detrimental if these resources are already scarce or difficult to access.

3. Cultural Erosion

Cultural Erosion is one of the most dreaded cons of tourism. A tourist destination with a distinct local culture is prone to changes due to the influx of tourists. The more tourism activities are higher the chances of community displacement.

This phenomenon is often compounded by the fact that many tourists come from cultures very different to those of the local community, and their presence can lead to a sudden change in cultural values. This rapid transition can significantly damage a community as its members may no longer feel represented or respected.

4. Economic Dependence

The COVID-19 pandemic best explains how tourism can suddenly burden an economy. As the pandemic wiped out all income for many countries' businesses, many had to rely heavily on government support and bailouts as their primary sources of revenue. This has resulted in rising debts due to emergency aid distributions and other fiscal measures associated with relief during this crisis.

5. Overcrowding

Visiting a particular area can harm the environment and local culture as tourism grows. One of the main disadvantages of tourism is overcrowding, which can strain resources, increase pollution, and damage natural habitats.

Overcrowding can decrease the quality of life for residents, as tourists take up public space and resources. It can also affect the health and safety of visitors who may be exposed to increased levels of crime or air pollution.

Conclusion on the Pros and Cons of Tourism

The pros and cons of tourism are complex if you evaluate them thoroughly. It is easy to see that people benefit from increased access to new cultures, experiences, and destinations.

On the other hand, there are real risks associated with tourist activities like over-tourism and the destruction of natural spaces. Therefore, it's up to individuals to assess these impacts on their own terms. It's up to every citizen to become responsible travelers who understand tourism's positive and negative effects.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the cons of tourism.

Tourism frequently exerts excessive strain on natural resources due to overconsumption, particularly in areas with limited resources. It places immense pressure on local land utilization, resulting in soil erosion, heightened pollution levels, loss of natural habitats, and increased jeopardy for endangered species.

What are the pros of tourism?

It fosters job creation, bolsters the local economy, facilitates infrastructure development, preserves the natural environment and cultural heritage, and works towards alleviating poverty and inequality.

What are the social benefits of tourism?

Tourism brings forth numerous social benefits, showcasing its positive impacts on society. These encompass the preservation of local culture and heritage, the fostering of vibrant communities, the provision of essential social services, the promotion of cultural and artistic commerce, the revitalization of customs and art forms, as well as the safeguarding of our precious heritage.

Who does tourism help?

Tourists contribute to the local economy by spending their money, leading to job creation and economic growth. This support is particularly crucial for small businesses, which often struggle to generate substantial profits.

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