News & Media

Virtual Reality - The Future for Tourism? Taylor’s Professor Takes a Trip “Back to the Future”

Having published his first paper on virtual reality back in 1994, Professor Hobson was asked to revisit his projections on the adoption of technologies in tourism over the last twenty-five years, and to assess what is likely to come next.


(L-R) Invited CHME 2018 Keynote Presenters - Prof Nigel Hemmington (AUT in NZ), Prof Jay Kandampully (OSU in the USA), Prof Perry Hobson (TU in Malaysia)

“I have to admit” said Professor Perry Hobson, the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at Taylor’s University “that virtual reality (VR) has not taken off as fast as was expected twenty-five years ago. But then again, other technologies have moved ahead much faster - such as the web, mobile phones and artificial intelligence.

New technologies, their development and adoption, all move at different speeds……and the time for much more immersive VR experiences may now soon be coming”. Prof Perry Hobson published his original journal article on “Virtual Reality: A new horizon for the tourism industry” back in 1994, and this year he was invited to revisit this topic at the annual 2018 Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) conference in the UK. Hosted by Bournemouth University, he spoke alongside two other invited speakers - Professor Nigel Hemmington, the Pro Vice-Chancellor International for Auckland University of Technology (NZ) and Professor Jay Kandampully from Ohio State University (USA). He pointed out during his presentation that, “VR has recently become the fastest growing segment of the entertainment and media industry.

The Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2018-22 published by PWC has predicted 8million VR headsets will be sold by then. We are now seeing airlines such as Emirates starting to invest in VR, as well as theme park operators who are integrating VR experiences into rollercoaster rides. Of course, its complicated technology. But given the growth of immersive gaming we are now just a few steps away from seeing a huge leap forward in much more immersive VR experiences.

The implications for tourism are potentially significant from not only a pre-experience marketing point of view but also as a substitution. Furthermore, there is also the opportunity to create complete fantasy destinations too and they may be even more appealing”. The 2018 CHME conference Chair, Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, reflected that, this year “we welcomed some 230 delegates from 48 countries, with 20 invited global speakers from a range of countries including the UK, USA, China, New Zealand, Malaysia and Switzerland” adding that, “the 5-day event created a range of initiatives that will help us to co-create global hospitality management for the future”. Prof Perry Hobson was made an Honorary Fellow of CHME in 2017 for his contribution to hospitality education and research – (Global Matters 2018)