How virtual reality is revolutionising the way we are sold holidays
VR displays don’t become a substitute for visiting a place but instead generate interest and excitement by showing what a destination or trip has to offer
You can parasail and paddle-board using virtual reality content produced by Florida’s Visit St Petersburg/Clearwater tourism board. You can land a jet on Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia, then go swimming with tropical fish in the Great Barrier Reef.
You can watch the opening song Circle of Life, recorded at a live Broadway performance of The Lion King, and peer around the theatre at everything from the aisles and audience, to the performers and props, to the conductor and backstage.
And even if you can’t afford Dubai’s luxury Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel, you can take a 3D online tour of a royal suite, lobby, helipad, bar, spa, restaurants, marble staircase with cheetah-print carpet and rotating canopy bed.
Virtual reality is the most realistic experience you can have of a place without being there
“VR is taking the world by storm, similar to what mobile did seven years ago,” says Abi Mandelbaum, chief executive of YouVisit, which has created over 300 VR experiences for destinations ranging from Vatican City to Mexico’s Grand Velas Riviera Maya.