XR and metaverse applications in transforming tourism, events and cultural heritage experiences

Beyond traditional tourism services, the convergence of Extended Reality (XR) — including Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) — with the emerging Metaverse presents unparalleled opportunities to transform tourism, events, and cultural heritage experiences (Kim, Lee, & Jung, 2020). This convergence enables the creation of three-dimensional simulated versions (Buhalis, Leung &Lin, 2023) portraying the past and future of places (Bideci & Bideci, 2023), crafting a mental imagery phase that unveils stories and evokes a sense of presence within tourist destinations.<br /><br />While these technologies are increasingly popular and acknowledged for their significance and disruptive methods, they remain relatively new within the tourism economy (Bogicevic et al., 2019). This novelty in practice also highlights a research gap in understanding how visitors and actively engaged service providers perceive immersive technologies in the tourism and especially cultural heritage sector. In 2021, the global market size for virtual tourism, integrating XR and Metaverse technologies, stood at five billion U.S. dollars, foreseeing a substantial growth, reaching an estimated 24 billion U.S. dollars by 2027 (Statista, 2022). However, despite existing literature defining the conceptual boundaries of these technologies in enhancing visitor experiences, there remains a lack of clarity in implementing and conceptualizing contemporary immersive experiences within tourism heritage destinations.<br />The proposed special session aims to explore the diverse applications of XR, specifically VR and AR, and Metaverse, seeking to delve into the transformative potential of these technologies in redefining visitor interaction with both physical and virtual worlds in a tourism setting. <br /><br />Furthermore, this special session aims to consolidate the potential of immersive technologies in enhancing visitors' understanding of cultural heritage destinations.<br /><br />We highly value all theoretical and methodological approaches—both qualitative and quantitative studies and inviting submissions in any subject area focusing on XR (augmented and virtual reality) and the Metaverse in tourism and cultural heritage. We especially encourage diverse submissions that span multiple disciplines such as marketing, psychology, and business management, and cover various topics related to hospitality and event, tourist experience and behaviour. Submissions should offer evidence relevant to the special issue's theme.