THE ROLE OF COVID-19 ON SUSTAINABILITY IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY THROUGH GREEN MARKETING PERSPECTIVE AND A CONCEPTUAL MODEL PROPOSAL ON VIRTUAL REALITY TOURISM
Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Dergisi, cilt.16, sa.1, ss.221-244, 2023 (TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 16 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2023
- Dergi Adı: Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Dergisi
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.221-244
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Environmental issues have become one of the most important problems the world has to deal with today. Due to the growing awareness of the threats posed by environmental issues, there has been a shift in consumer focus toward environmental concerns. Virtual reality tourism, which has also been called "eco-tourism," has been showing signs of increased activity, according to recent researches. Although virtual tourism may not provide the same experience as a real visit to a natural site, it is nonetheless gaining popularity, not just because of the prior global COVID-19 based travel restrictions and economic crises, but also because of new, game-changing technological developments and increased awareness of the environmental issues by the travelers. Despite the expectations that this popularity will be short-lived with the end of the pandemic, the continued positive user experience for virtual reality tourism during the pandemic period will be correlated with the level of the desire of ecologically conscious consumers to forego the pleasure of traditional travel and increased user adjustment to digital solutions. In this paper, initially the concept of sustainability and green marketing is discussed on the basis of tourism industry. The study also focuses on the available literature in order to acquire a deeper comprehension of the applications of immersive technologies in the tourism sector within the perspective of sustainability. Besides the ability of virtual experiences to be seen as a substitute for traditional tourism, the impact of crisis situations -such as COVID-19- on that potential is examined. Finally, challenges of virtual tourism as an emerging industry within the framework of sustainability and implications for the sustainable development of both real-world and virtual tourism are discussed.