Examining Experience Economy Dimensions on Virtual Tour Satisfaction and Destination Visit Intention

Abstract

Virtual tour is an emerging phenomenon in the tourism industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this technology is accelerated and utilized as media to market tourism sites that are mainly closed to contain the Coronavirus spread. This study aims to investigate the relationship between virtual tour experience economy dimensions and outcome of the experience, particularly satisfaction, followed by intention to visit the actual site. Utilizing the PLS-SEM method, this research found that three of the four experience constructs, namely entertainment, esthetics, and escapism positively relate to satisfaction, which leads to participants’ intention to visit the destinations. This finding further supports the role of virtual tour as a strategy to market tourism destinations, as well as emphasizing the significance of immersion and entertainment effect in a virtual content. The result can be of assistance to virtual tour providers or tourism marketers in understanding customer perspective.
 
Keywords: experience economy, satisfaction, tourism, visit intention, virtual tour