Chapter 18: Future Tourism Trends: Virtual, Augmented Reality, and Blockchain Technology Impact Travel and Destination Experiences

Tourism destinations and travel experiences always depend on their past aesthetic fascination and enjoyment. Based on this reason, the chapter thoroughly analyzes the effect of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain technology to evaluate tourists’ travel and destination experiences. How can blockchain technology influence tourists’ travel and destination experiences in the virtual and physical world? The present chapter explains the predictive effect of VR, AR, and blockchain technology on tourists’ travel and destination experiences. A quantitative research method was used and Terengganu state, Malaysia, was the study population, as well as participants selected with the help of purposive sampling technique. G*Power analysis was generated with power analysis to choose a sample size (N = 217). Data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed via descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS 21 version and SmartPLS-4 distinguished tools. The chapter results indicate that using VR, AR, and blockchain technology in tourism, in terms of travel and destination experiences, are powerful tools to attract tourists to specific ­destinations. These applications demonstrate a clear advancement in recent years regarding boosting destination experiences and travel fascination, such as using technological-based theoretical models to ­attract real-world tourists. The chapter’s findings revealed that VR, AR, and blockchain technology directly predict travel and destination experiences. The predictive association found that VR and blockchain technology have a unified framework to promote destination experiences in the field of tourism. The chapter concluded that virtual and augmented reality-based tourism, using blockchain technology, may modify the tourist travel experiences at any destination.