The impact of virtual reality tours with “VR” technology on visit intention: A study on undergraduate tourism students

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships between virtual reality (VR) tour experiences, perceived telepresence, mental imagery and visit intention among undergraduate tourism students. The study was designed as a single-group, cross-sectional, quantitative investigation; it is not a controlled experiment. The research population consisted of tourism students, and the sample comprised 83 students enrolled in the tourism management undergraduate programme at Giresun University. All participants were shown the same five-minute 360° virtual tour of New York City using a Meta Quest Pro headset in a quiet classroom environment after receiving standardized verbal instructions; researchers also took descriptive observational notes during the sessions. Participants then completed a 21-item questionnaire covering telepresence (14 items), mental imagery (3 items) and visit intention (4 items), each measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Analyses included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlations, and simple and multiple linear regression. Telepresence, mental imagery and overall VR-tour engagement each showed positive and significant associations with visit intention (r = .550–.605, p < .001). When telepresence and mental imagery were entered jointly, the model explained 40% of the variance in visit intention (R² = .40), with mental imagery emerging as the stronger unique predictor. Because the design does not permit causal inferences and 84% of participants had no prior VR experience, the results are interpreted cautiously in terms of association and explained variance rather than effects. Practical implications for destination marketing and limitations relating to sample, single-destination focus and potential novelty effects are discussed.