How Metaverse will change the Travel & Tourism Industry

The travel industry is witnessing a huge digital transformation in recent years. In fact, every travel business is trying to implement some digital solutions into its operations and processes to provide a better experience to tourists & travelers.

Thus, concepts like Metaverse in the travel industry are also gaining huge traction among tech enthusiasts, travelers, and businesses. The global pandemic also raised some interest in virtual travel.

In this blog, we are going to discuss the transformation of the Metaverse in the travel industry. We will also learn how Blockchain development can change the face of the travel industry.

Before diving into an in-depth discussion, we must understand the concept of the Metaverse; 

What is Metaverse? Why is it So Popular? 

Possibilities are quite limited in the physical world. Thus, we need to open a new gateway to a virtual world, where we can have new possibilities of interactions and life.

The metaverse is essentially a concept of a virtual world where people can leave the real-world and have interactions with each other. The real Metaverse in the future will be based on Blockchain technology and provide equal participation opportunities to everyone.

In order to make the experience more interactive and realistic, it will simulate a 3D life-like environment, where users will be able to play, work, earn, and socialize with others.

Technologies like AR and VR travel in the Metaverse will be used for making the experience truly. This could have drastic implications on the travel industry with interactive virtual tours and simulations. For this reason, travel & tourism companies should consider hiring a Blockchain development company to develop innovative solutions. 

The Advancements in the Metaverse

The Metaverse is not just a buzzword anymore. In fact, the involvement of Mark Zuckerberg has made it a global phenomenon. Today, the continuous advancements in virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and Blockchain technology have accelerated the growth of the Metaverse. For this reason, big players like Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Facebook are investing heavily to make Metaverse a reality. This could bring a great revolution to traveling companies looking for more immersive virtual experiences. 

Things Traveling Companies Must Understand About the Metaverse

Travel & tourism businesses must understand these rules to implement their own solution in the Metaverse; 

1. There will be a single version of the Metaverse to have a unified user experience. 
2. Everyone should be able to access the Metaverse irrespective of device or platform. 
3. A single authority or an individual won’t be able to control or manipulate the Metaverse/
4. There won’t be any downtime in the Metaverse. Thus, the virtual world will be time persistent. 
5. The Metaverse will be dependent on the internet or a network. 
6.  VR and AR in travel & tourism industry will have a massive impact on the Metaverse

Let’s check out the current situation in the digital travel industry 

Digital Travel Market Overview

• The global online travel industry already had a worth of $354.2 billion in 2020. 
• It has been predicted that this market will touch an astonishing $1,835.6 billion by 2031. 
• The main age group of the online travel industry consists of individuals between 32-43. 
• The Asian market is considered the largest market in the online travel app industry. 
• Today, almost 80% of tourists depend on a mobile application to plan their trips. 

Key Learnings from this Blog

• The Metaverse will create a bridge between the digital and physical characteristics of the travel & tourism industry. 
• Exploring the virtual world through Metaverse could help users avoid unnecessary travel. 
• Virtual tourism saw a major demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Metaverse will add another dimension with a new approach. 
• 2022 will be a significant year in determining the impact of the Metaverse in the travel industry. 

The Impact of Metaverse on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

The concept of the Metaverse should not be considered as an alternative to the travel & tourism industry. Instead, it should be considered an extension of the services provided in this industry. In fact, the virtual travel experiences in the Metaverse aren’t going to harm the bookings for actual vacations in the real world. The Metaverse marketplace would become an extensive instrument for the tour and travel industry around the world. 

By taking full advantage of virtual tourism, the Metaverse would be drastically improving the travel experience of consumers.  In fact, the Metaverse users will be able to have a virtual experience of tours and journeys before pursuing the actual journey. Thus, they will be more informed and prepared for the attractions, perks, challenges, and experiences of the tours. People can use the Metaverse for attending the following events; 

• Live concerts
• Outstation vacations 
• Museum tours
• Nightclubs 
• Casinos 
• Aventure sports 
• And more! 

Hotels and restaurants will also have great opportunities with the Metaverse to promote their offerings. Thus, the scope of tourism and dine-in experience can also improve with the inclusion of a Metaverse. Many travel & tourism companies are also looking for the best travel app development services to prepare for the Metaverse. People can have life-like experiences before actually spending money on different services. 

The Incoming Marketing Opportunities 

There’s no doubt that the tourism and travel industry was affected massively after the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown norms. Thus, marketing and conversion have become very important factors for these businesses to rise again. Travel & tourism businesses can transform their marketing strategies with more immersive and life-like experiences in the Metaverse. Furthermore, the virtual world of the Metaverse can bring more promising marketing opportunities. 

The Metaverse can become a very immersive platform for customers to view and compare different companies, their services, and attractions. Moreover, marketers can also explore unique digital marketing opportunities in the Metaverse with Metaverse in the travel industry. 

They can also launch their virtual events or offerings with NFT becoming a central component of the Metaverse. Travel planning can become a lot easier when users can get virtual tours of holiday destinations, hotel suites, meeting spaces, and floor plans. With the help of Blockchain technology, virtual tours of holiday destinations and hotels make the actual experience more fulfilling and rewarding. 

The Best Use Cases of Metaverse in the Travel & Tourism Industry

The Metaverse has become a very vast concept in the world now. In fact, it has the potential to revolutionize various industries with innovation and virtual worlds. The use of VR technology in the Metaverse takes the possibilities even further toward a life-like and immersive world. A Metaverse marketplace for the travel industry would bring remarkable changes in daily operations. Here are some of the best use cases of Metaverse in the travel & tourism industry; 

1. Video Game Tourism

Pictures and videos alone are not enough to launch effective marketing campaigns and attract more tourists. Thus, it becomes important for travel companies to provide a more immersive experience to travelers with the help of travel app development company.

This is only possible by giving them a life-like experience of a virtual world, where they can explore holiday destinations, hotels, and venues by wearing a VR headset and connecting with a Metaverse marketplace. For example, the users can have an interactive tour of the Colosseum in Rome without actually leaving the comfort of their homes.

This digital material can work as a pre-sale demo to promote the actual tourism packages. Moreover, travel companies can sell this VR experience separately to generate additional revenue. People also love purchasing digital content that is more interactive and immersive for the users. 

2. The 3D Metaverse Hotels

The virtual world of the Metaverse is meant to be a very realistic, life-like, and interactive experience. Thus, hotel businesses can use the potential of the Metaverse to design the virtual version of their properties. Properties meant for social gatherings like meeting spaces, seminar rooms, and banquet halls are often examined by the event organizers. Furthermore, the event organizers have to visit these properties in person to examine the technicalities.

A virtual three-dimensional copy of the property could be very helpful for the event organizers to explore the venues virtually. They could save a lot of time and resources usually spent on traveling. Popular hotel chains like Marriott, Movenpick, and others are already investing in Blockchain development and the Metaverse marketplace to create the most interactive digital content for users. Moreover, this 3D virtual world could open up new revenue opportunities for businesses from users who like to explore digital worlds and make purchases. 

3. Improvement in Bookings and Interactions

Today, the booking experience to book flights and hotels is very boring and monotonous. The users have to fill out monotonous forms or chat with bots for better information. Metaverse for the travel industry can drastically change the booking process where the users will be drawn into a very immersive experience. In fact, businesses and customers can create their avatars to explore the booking process in a realistic virtual environment. 

There could be a virtual attendant who can take the particular details from the user to further proceed with the booking process. The users can also wear their favorite attire and interact in their own way with the effective implementation of the Metaverse for the travel industry. Altogether, this would make the booking experience more interactive and fun for the users. Hence, there would be more conversions with the interactive approach. 

4. Flying Experience in the Metaverse

Prominent airline companies like Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, Emirates, and others are investing heavily in Metaverse experiences and Blockchain development. These companies want to offer a digital experience where the users could explore various facilities like e-stores, virtual flights, lounges, etc. After using these services, the customers will earn loyalty points which can further be redeemed in the real world by getting exclusive discounts or cabin upgrades. 

The airline companies could greatly encourage people to fly with airlines by providing a quality virtual experience in the Metaverse. Moreover, they can also integrate the reward points with a credit card company to benefit even better. It’s a win-win situation for everything, credit goes to the Metaverse for the travel industry.

Private jet companies like Star Jets International are also working with top animation studios to create their virtual experience for the Metaverse. This would certainly change the experience for luxury travelers who love complete extravagance. 

5. Events in the Metaverse

The event companies faced a massive backlash during the Covid era due to lockdowns and unsold tickets. For this reason, they have understood the importance of virtual events that can also have live attendance. 

Metaverse in the travel industry can certainly be a blessing for event companies. Event companies like MetaEvents are already working with Metaverse tools to create digital storefronts, NFTs, and other digital collectables. Virtual events in the Metaverse will be like any live event where the attendees can have an immersive experience and interact with each other. 

Instead of traveling to the actual venue of the event, they can watch the event interactively live from their home. In fact, they can become a part of the event with the help of VR technology. These events can even feature supernatural features or out-of-the-world visuals to create a truly unique experience for the visitors. If you want to build such an immersive experience for your event company, then it would be highly advisable to hire Blockchain developers now. 

How to Adopt the Metaverse in a Traveling and Tourism Business?

So far we have learned how the Metaverse can create a significant impact in the travel and tourism industry. However, as a business owner, you must know how you will be capitalizing on these benefits of the Metaverse before your competitors. Firstly, a Blockchain development company could greatly help you understand the relevant benefits of the Metaverse in the travel industry for your business model. They can help you to develop an app for the travel industry to capture more clients. 

These are some of the best practices that you can implement to easily adopt metaverse in the travel & tourism industry; 

• You must have a clear set of objectives for your Metaverse project before implementing it in your tourism business. 
• You should create a dedicated budget for the Metaverse marketing budget that would help you understand the cost to develop a Travel App? 
• Try to do a competitor analysis to learn what others are doing with Metaverse solutions. Thus, you will be able to seek a competitive edge while deploying your own solution. 
• Try to understand the user persona and what they might actually want from your digital experience. Thus, you will be able to make the Metaverse experience more personalized and targeted. 
• You can work on building a virtual itinerary to help users to have better engagement and communication with others on the Metaverse. 
• People love to collect digital artifacts and collectables like NFTs. Thus, you can either sell digital collectables as souvenirs or give them away for free. 
• It is a great strategy to build play-to-earn games to engage the users with your loyalty programs. People love to spend time on platforms where they can earn rewards by completing various activities. 

How MobileCoderz Can Help You With Your Travel Business and the Metaverse?

It is often said that Metaverse will be the most revolutionary technology after the invention of the internet. Thus, the implications of the Metaverse on the travel & tourism industry will be severe in the near future. It will change the way people plan, travel, and communicate. Above all, you will need to hire Blockchain developers to build a successful Metaverse marketplace. 

MobileCoderz is a prominent Blockchain development company that is ready to take the best advantage of the Metaverse in the travel industry. We have an extensive team of Blockchain developers, designers, QA professionals, and project managers. Together, they can help you learn about the best benefits of Metaverse for your business and implement robust digital solutions.