Will Virtual Reality Become A Reality In The Travel Industry?

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As virtual reality technology catches up with actual reality, the question on everyone's mind will soon become, what does this mean for travel?

"Travel is far and away the most desired experience that Virtual Reality (VR) users would most like to see," according to Jackie Hurwitz, founder of Third Wish Media, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based VR production company.

Hurwitz said that preference was referenced in a speech by Jesse Schell, a video game designer, author and professor of entertainment technology. Schell, in turn, cited a 2016 Virtual Reality Industry Report from Greenlight Insights for the finding. Greenlight Insights 2016 Virtual Reality Report

Hurwitz, who is also a VR producer, attended the recent Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas to explore opportunities with the Virtuoso luxury travel network for using VR.

Virtuoso has been conducting research with its members and preferred suppliers for months now to determine how it can provide "measurable value" to its advisors through VR, said Tony Corneto, Virtuoso's Director of User Experience.

"Additional research is being driven from Virtuoso Virtual Reality's (VVR) participation in the Incubator program [Virtuoso's program to foster new technology], with a number of agencies and advisors already committed to testing," Corneto added. "Their input will help drive the way forward and we will look to have a clearer direction in the coming weeks."
Third Wish Media hasn't yet produced any [VR] pieces for the travel industry, "but this is a huge market to tap," said Hurwitz. The company, launched just two months ago, is taking on its first clients but the "old guys" in the young VR industry have been around for only about three years she added.

Hurwitz' definition of VR is "an immersive tech experience primarily viewed on a headset that can transport the viewer to other places, times and worlds without limit."

"It's a hotly debated topic now, especially within the VR community, whether VR is the next version of the internet-in other words, not just reacting with technology on a screen but being able to touch, move and experience tech like we've never done before-or a replacement for the internet," she said.

Either way, "We're in the early stages of what VR is capable of," Hurwitz added. VR is now used in the gaming, medical science, real estate, and film industries.

When it comes to the travel industry, "We can use VR to create exceptional experiences for travelers," she said.

One of the most obvious uses of VR in travel is to download views of destinations "you might want to visit to see what it might be about; what it might feel like to be in certain places," or to enhance a destination one is already visiting, according to Hurwitz.

For travel agencies and agents specifically, VR can provide clients with an experience of a hotel, resort or destination that aids them in deciding where to travel along with planning that trip.

A large network like Virtuoso might standardize VR viewing as part of the experience of going to one of its travel advisors by, for example, providing a VR tour of the network's preferred hotels in a particular city or location as well as a VR experience of multiple destinations, according to Hurwitz.

A client may want to go to South Africa but isn't sure if a safari or a wine tour is for them, she added. VR can help with that decision.

What about VR for the hotel and airline industry?

"One difficulty of travel is how to get under the skin of a place so, for example, you're staying at a hotel in Costa Rica which might provide a VR experience of the life of a local," she said. "Or you're about to board a flight to Dubai and rather than stressing out in an airport lounge, you spend the time with a VR head set that takes you flying around the landscape of the city."

VR, however, is by no means a substitute for real experience, Hurwitz added.

"No one who's seen the film 'Roman Holiday' would say I've been to Rome," she said. "Media isn't a replacement for the actual experience but it can enrich that experience, showing us angles we wouldn't have known about otherwise. It can provide context and cultural information."

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