CACTUS CACTUS J Tour Bus Manag Econ CACTUS – Journal of Tourism Business, Management and Economics 2247-3297 ASE Publishing House Bucharest, Romania 10.24818/CTS/5/2023/2.05 cactus-2023-14 Research Article M10, M31, O31, Z32 Implications of virtual reality in developing tourism – the case of Transylvania, Romania Ticau Iulia Ruxandra iulia.ticau@fabiz.ase.ro Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania 15 12 2023 5 2 15122023 Copyright © 2023, The Author(s) 2023 The Author(s) This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Technological advancements are constantly changing developing industries and impacting all players in the field. Among the most well-known revolutionary technologies is virtual reality (VR), a three-dimensional concept that offers its users the possibility to simulate new environments by visualizing the real world from their own location. This research article raises the question of the extent to which such technologies can influence the tourism potential of a much-discussed region in Romania, namely Transylvania. As a result, case study research with qualitative data was conducted, leading to an extended analysis of the current topic. By adopting a three-fold division of VR’ potential destination: marketing tool, planning and managerial and entertainment tool, the study aimed at providing relevant insights upon the importance of VR for both service providers in the field, but also potential beneficiaries of touristic services. The results show that VR is of great benefit to the development of the tourism industry, but that factors such as costly implementation costs and "resistance" to innovation can occur. The research findings have implications for researchers in the field, but also for stakeholders in the tourism and technology sectors.

 Keywords Virtual Reality tourism innovation Transylvania Romania

Full text available in PDF format.

References Alreahi, M., Bujdosó, Z., Kabil, M., Akaak, A., Benkó, K. F., Setioningtyas, W. P., & Dávid, L. D. (2023). Green human resources management in the hotel industry: A systematic review. Sustainability, 15, Article 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010099 10.3390/su15010099 Aziz, A., & Zainol, N. A. (2011). Destination image: An overview and summary of selected research (1974–2008). International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJLTM.2011.037185 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.037185 Beck, J., Rainoldi, M., & Egger, R. (2019). Virtual reality in tourism: A state-of-the-art review. Tourism Review, 74(2), 586–612. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-03-2017-0049 10.1108/TR-03-2017-0049 Bhandari, P. (2020). What is qualitative research? Methods & examples. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/qualitative-research/ Bowen, G. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027 10.3316/QRJ0902027 Bryman, A. (2004). Social science research. Oxford Press. Chivaka, R. (2018). Secondary data analysis. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327060808_secondary_data_analysis Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage. Crowe, S., Cresswell, K., Robertson, A., Huby, G., Avery, A., & Sheikh, A. (2011). The case study approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11, Article 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-11-100 10.1186/1471-2288-11-100 Csoka, G. E. (2020). Romania’s tourism potential in Transylvania. Acta Carolus Robertus, 10(2), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.33032/acr.2475 10.33032/acr.2475 Dormehl, L. (2017). Virtual reality milestones that took it from sci-fi to your living room. Digital Trends. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/history-of-virtual-reality/ Dorner, R., Jung, B., Grimm, P. B. W., & Göbel, M. (2013). Einleitung. In R. Dörner, W. Broll, P. Grimm, & B. Jung (Eds.), Virtual und augmented reality (VR/AR)Az (pp. 1–32). Springer. Dulău, A. V., & Coros, M. M. (2009). Is cultural tourism attractive in Transylvania? A focus on Cluj and Sibiu counties, Romania. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 6(8), 413–424. Erdélystat. (2022). Transylvanian tourism on the rise. https://transylvanianow.com/transylvanian-tourism-on-the-rise/ Griffin, T., Giberson, J., Lee, S. H. M., Guttentag, D., Kandaurova, M., Sergueeva, K., & Dimanche, F. (2017). Virtual reality and implications for destination marketing. In Travel & Tourism Research Association: Advancing Tourism Research Globally, TTRA International Conference (Paper 29, Québec, Canada, June 20–22). Guo, Y., & Barnes, S. (2011). Purchase behavior in virtual worlds: An empirical investigation in Second Life. Information & Management, 48(7), 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2011.07.004 10.1016/j.im.2011.07.004 Gutierrez, M., Vexo, F., & Thalmann, D. (2008). Stepping into virtual reality. Springer. Guttentag, D. A. (2010). Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism. Tourism Management, 31(5), 637–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2009.07.003 10.1016/j.tourman.2009.07.003 Ijsselsteijn, W. A., & Riva, G. (2003). Being there: The experience of presence in mediated environments. In G. Riva, F. Davide, & W. A. Ijsselsteijn (Eds.), Being there: Concepts, effects and measurement of user presence in synthetic environments (pp. 4–16). IOS Press. INSCOP Research. (2018). November 2018 – Values, perceptions and representations of the Romanian and US population. https://www.inscop.ro/en/november-2018-values-perceptions-and-representations-of-the-romanian-and-us-population/ Jade, I. (2022). 12 Transylvanian castles you can’t miss. Traveling Transylvania. https://travelingtransylvania.com/transylvanian-castles/ Kim, G. J. (2005). Designing virtual reality systems: The structured approach. Springer. Kim, M. J., Lee, C.-K., & Jung, T. (2020). Exploring consumer behavior in virtual reality tourism using an extended stimulus-organism-response model. Journal of Travel Research, 59(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287518818915 10.1177/0047287518818915 Kulakoğlu-Dilek, N., Kızılırmak, I., & Dilek, S. E. (2018). Virtual reality or just reality? A SWOT analysis of the tourism industry. J. Tour., 4, 67–74. Magdalina, C. (2020). How far has the digitalization of Romanian industries advanced? https://www.amcham.ro/news-from-members/how-far-has-the-digitalization-of-romanian-industries-advanced Mallinguh, E., Wasike, C., Bilan, Y., & Zoltan, Z. (2022). The impact of firm characteristics, business competitiveness, and technology upgrade hurdles on R&D costs. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 20(4), 264–277. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.20(4).2022.20 10.21511/ppm.20(4 National Institute of Statistics. (2023). TUR104E - Sosiri ale turiștilor în structuri de primire turistică pe tipuri de structuri, pe județe și localități. http://statistici.insse.ro:8077/tempo-online/#/pages/tables/insse-table Neuburger, L., Beck, J., & Egger, R. (2018). The “phygital” tourist experience: The use of augmented and virtual reality in destination marketing. In M. Camilleri (Ed.), Tourism planning and destination marketing (pp. 183–202). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-291-220181009 10.1108/978-1-78756-291-220181009 Official Journal of the European Union. (2011). Commission Recommendation of 27 October 2011 on the digitization and online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation (2011/711/EU). Osten, B. (2022). Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in marketing: How AI is enhancing immersive experiences. https://rockcontent.com/blog/virtual-and-augmented-reality-in-marketing/ Pallud, J., & Straub, D. (2007). Real vs. virtual: A theoretical framework for assessing the role of authenticity in visitor interactions with museum technologies. In Proceedings of the 13th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2007), Keystone, CO, USA, August 9–12. Pestek, A., & Sarvan, M. (2020). Virtual reality and modern tourism. Journal of Tourism Features, 7(2). Polishchuk, E., Bujdosó, Z., Archi, Y., Benbba, B., Zhu, K., & Dávid, L. D. (2023). The theoretical background of virtual reality and its implications for the tourism industry. Sustainability, 15(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310534 10.3390/su151310534 Presidential Commission for Built Heritage, Historical and Natural Sites. (2009). Raportul Comisiei Prezidențiale pentru Patrimoniul Construit, Siturile Istorice și Naturale. https://media.hotnews.ro/media_server1/document-2009-10-7-6253621-0-raportul-comisieiprezidentiale-pentru-patrimoniul-construit.pdf Pujol, L. (2004). Archaeology, museums and virtual reality. Digithum, 6, 1–9. Punch, K. F. (2005). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches (2nd ed.). Sage Publications. Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2001). Handbook of action research. Sage Publications. Romania Tour Store. (2017). The Transylvanian experience. https://romaniatourstore.com/blog/the-transylvanian-experience/ Slater, M., & Sánchez-Vives, M. V. (2016). Enhancing our lives with immersive virtual reality. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3, 1–47. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2016.00074 10.3389/frobt.2016.00074 Tussyadiah, I. P., Wang, D., & Jia, C. H. (2017). Virtual reality and attitudes toward tourism destinations. In R. Schegg & B. Stangl (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2017: Proceedings of the International Conference in Rome, Italy, 24–26 January (pp. 229–239). Springer. Tussyadiah, I. P., Wang, D., Jung, T. H., & tom Dieck, M. C. (2018). Virtual reality, presence, and attitude change: Empirical evidence from tourism. Tourism Management, 66(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.12.003 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.12.003 Virtual Reality Society. (2017). How did virtual reality begin? https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/beginning.html Wu, D., Weng, D., & Xue, S. (2016). Virtual reality system as an affective medium to induce specific emotion: A validation study. Electronic Imaging, 4, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2016.4.ERVR-419 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2016.4.ERVR-419 Zhang, P., Bao, N., & Cao, K. (2018). 3.10 – A review on the current progress in Chinese historical GIS research. Comprehensive Geographic Information, 4(1), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.09659-7 10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.09659-7