TRAVELING BEFORE TRAVELING: VIRTUAL REALITY MARKETING IN SUPPORT OF GREATER TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY

Ovaj članak istražuje odnos između informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije (ICT) i virtualne stvarnosti (VR) s jedne strane i turizma s druge, odnosno njihove međuodnose i poveznice s održivošću turizma. Kao potrošačka tehnologija, VR je još uvijek relativno novi koncept premda se istraživala i koristila u turizmu za marketinške svrhe. Cilj je protumačiti različite aspekte VR-a i ICT-a kako bi se potencijalno povezali s održivošću i perspektivama masovnog turizma kao i s potencijalnim budućim razvojima koji se odnose na potencijal ICT-a i turizma za što veće ispunjavanje potreba turista u budućnosti. Saznanja o ovim konceptima i njihovim međusobnim odnosima stečena su upotrebom metodologije sustavnog mapiranja. Studija otkriva evaluciju i veze između istraživanih koncepata, postojeće izazove i rješenja, kao i preostale nedostatke. Ovi nalazi ukazuju na činjenicu da VR kao trend u turizmu još uvijek zahtijeva značajnu količinu rada i poboljšanja kako bi mu se mogla potpuno posvetiti te posebno uključiti u pitanja turizma i potencijala koncepta održivosti u tom sustavu. Unatoč mnogim bojaznima i nesuglasicama, potencijal njezine ispravne provedbe je ogroman.This paper investigates the relationship of information communication technology (ICT) and virtual reality (VR), and tourism, or specifically its interrelations and links to tourism sustainability. As a consumer technology, VR is still a relatively new concept, although it has been researched and used in the tourism industry for marketing purposes. The aim is to understand the different aspects of VR and ICTs and potentially link them to sustainability and perspectives on mass tourism, as well as to the potential future developments related to the ability of ICT and tourism to meet the tourists’ needs to a greater extent in the future. By use of the systematic mapping methodology, the insights into these concepts and their relations to each other are provided. The study reveals the evolution and links between the investigated concepts, the existing challenges and solutions, and the remaining gaps. The present findings indicate that VR as a trend in the tourism industry still needs significant work and improvement until it is ready to fully immerse itself into the tourism sector and especially involve itself into the issues concerning tourism and the potential of sustainability concept within the industry. Many of the concerns and conflicts still exist, but the potential of its right implementation is enormous