Immersive virtual reality experiences: boosting potential visitor engagement and attractiveness of natural world heritage sites

• DOI: 10.1080/10941665.2024.2332993
• Publication Date: 2024-04-02T06:26:05Z
• Authors: Tareq Rasul; Weng Marc Lim; Peter O’Connor; Ashfaq Ahmad; Kashif Farhat; Fernando de Olive...; Wagner Junior Lad...
• Keywords: Visitor pattern; Affordance; Affect; Customer engagement

Natural world heritage sites as destinations can have multiple orientations, namely cognitive (learning), affective (hedonism), and sustainability (nature). This study investigates how potential visitors be attracted to such using virtual reality (VR). Using the Sundarbans mangrove forest (Bangladesh) a case, adopting customer engagement TAM underlying theories, we collect data from 316 subjects investigate ease of use, perceived usefulness, enjoyment VR experiences affect intention visit. In doing so, reveal that psychological, but not behavioural, serves mediator in explaining visit context VR.