Since March, concerts, festivals, and public events started getting canceled and stay-at-home orders were put into effect. We had no idea that six months later, we’d be in the same situation and that tourism would be put on hold. Luckily, technology has made it possible for us to travel virtually and to allow us to visit foreign countries without actually leaving our homes. But, is virtual tourism the future of the travel industry?

As soon as travel stopped happening, The National Park Service started offering virtual tours of historical sites and opened up livestreams of parks. Museums like Louvre in Paris and MoMa in New York began offering virtual tours and Airbnb started launching online experiences which include cooking, dance, and photography classes.

Tourism soon followed suit offering virtual experiences like visiting art galleries, seeing operas, and participating in beer tastings.

Virtual experiences give you a change in scenery and they allow you to see places that we can’t physically visit. They’re a sort of escape that allow you to learn about new places and cultures while sitting on your sofa.

Obviously, there’s nothing that can compare to actually traveling and exploring new places in-person and when tourism opens back up, the interest in virtual travel may subside. But, we think the trend is here to stay as it satisfies the need to travel, even if it’s just short-term.

The post Is Virtual Tourism the Future of the Travel Industry? appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Since March, concerts, festivals, and public events started getting canceled and stay-at-home orders were put into effect. We had no idea that six months later, we’d be in the same situation and that tourism would be put on hold. Luckily, technology has made it possible for us to travel virtually and to allow us to visit foreign countries without actually leaving our homes. But, is virtual tourism the future of the travel industry?

As soon as travel stopped happening, The National Park Service started offering virtual tours of historical sites and opened up livestreams of parks. Museums like Louvre in Paris and MoMa in New York began offering virtual tours and Airbnb started launching online experiences which include cooking, dance, and photography classes.

Tourism soon followed suit offering virtual experiences like visiting art galleries, seeing operas, and participating in beer tastings.

Virtual experiences give you a change in scenery and they allow you to see places that we can’t physically visit. They’re a sort of escape that allow you to learn about new places and cultures while sitting on your sofa.

Obviously, there’s nothing that can compare to actually traveling and exploring new places in-person and when tourism opens back up, the interest in virtual travel may subside. But, we think the trend is here to stay as it satisfies the need to travel, even if it’s just short-term.

The post Is Virtual Tourism the Future of the Travel Industry? appeared first on toppoptoday.com.