From screens to scenes: building tourism experiences in the metaverse

Nowadays, talking about the metaverse is normal. However, we will contextualise the origin of this concept, a trend of study in recent years in different fields (Giang Barrera and Shah, 2023; Yu et al., 2024). The conceptualisation of the term Metaverse was addressed by Neal Stephenson in his science-fiction novel Snow Crash, published in 1992, which describes it as a virtual space parallel to the physical world in which users can interact through their digital avatars (Özdemir Uçgun and Şahin, 2024). Second Life, a precursor to the metaverse, is a shared interface where users create avatars and socialise virtually (Dwivedi et al., 2022). Other platforms that have modelled what is now called the metaverse were Roblox, developed in the period 2004–2006 (David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, 2004), and Fortnite has been running since 1991; it was not until 2017 when this immersive game was launched (Sweeney and Rein, 1991). In 2014, Sony, Samsung, and Google launched virtual reality headsets. In 2016, the HoloLens AR and VR headset was introduced. Pokemon Go went viral that year. In 2017, IKEA offered immersive experiences. In 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta to focus on the Metaverse (Al-Ghaili et al., 2022).

The metaverse is experiencing steady growth with the participation of academics, entrepreneurs, and users, albeit with significant risks such as privacy concerns (Liyanaarachchi et al., 2023). Digital spaces, as well as immersive video games such as Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox, and VRChat, have been seen as precursors to the metaverse, providing insight into the potential socioeconomic impact that a multi-platform, enduring and fully operational metaverse could have (Buhalis et al., 2023; Jo, 2023; Gil-Cordero et al., 2025).

The potential of the metaverse increases with increased consumer engagement and business investment in associated technologies. However, its impact on tourism and value creation to provide spaces that enable user loyalty in these environments is unknown (Wu and Wang, 2024; Ledesma Chaves et al., 2025). Therefore, the following research objectives and questions are posed to help clarify the landscape of the metaverse in the tourism sector.

The article contributes theoretically by expanding theories on consumer behaviour and technology adoption in virtual environments, proposing new conceptual frameworks on value creation in the tourism metaverse (Gil-Cordero et al., 2025). It identifies barriers, guides the design of experiences in the metaverse, and offers practical guidelines in marketing, sustainable tourism, inclusion, economics, and public policy (Akyürek et al., 2024). The following sections present the theoretical background that underpins this research, as well as the methodology used for the development of this work. Then, the main results are discussed, and a conclusion that responds to the objectives that have guided this research is presented.

The trend of immersive technologies and the metaverse concept have opened new frontiers for the tourism industry, transforming how users interact with destinations and services (Cheung et al., 2024; Kılıçarslan et al., 2025). The metaverse is a persistent virtual space that enhances real-life social, economic and leisure experiences. (Cheung et al., 2024). Value creation emerges as a central concept, driven by the dynamic interaction between tourists, service providers, and the metaverse technologies themselves (John and Supramaniam, 2024).

From a technological perspective, the metaverse relies on virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) to generate immersive experiences (Cheung et al., 2024; Kılıçarslan et al., 2025). These technologies allow users, through personalised avatars, to take virtual tours of destinations, explore hotels and attractions, and even participate in simulated events prior to a physical journey (Behera et al., 2023; Cheung et al., 2024). This “pre-experience” capability mitigates the perceived risks associated with travel and can increase the intention to visit real destinations (Cheung et al., 2024). Blockchain technology and seamless transactions also contribute to the creation of economic value within the tourism metaverse (Choubey et al., 2025). Accessibility and improved user experience through these technologies are fundamental to creating technological value in the tourism metaverse (Grzegorczyk et al., 2019; Behera et al., 2023).

Socially, the metaverse enables real-time interaction and value co-creation, fostering community and information exchange among tourists, professionals, and peers (Cheung et al., 2024).

From an economic perspective, the metaverse offers value creation through travel inspiration, pre-booking evaluation, and access to unique, often more affordable experiences (Beheshti et al., 2024). Tourist satisfaction, influenced by immersion and escapism, drives loyalty, revisit, and economic value in the metaverse (Jafar and Ahmad, 2023). It is crucial to consider factors that may influence the adoption of the metaverse in tourism, such as the lack of a sound theoretical basis, resistance from certain user groups (such as senior tourists) and concerns about privacy and security (Cham et al., 2023; Chi et al., 2024).

The growing interest in the application of the metaverse in tourism and its potential to create value in multiple dimensions are of great relevance to the scientific community (Chen, 2023; Choubey et al., 2025), however, empirical research is still in its early stages (Chen et al., 2023; Kılıçarslan et al., 2025). Investigating barriers and designing strategies ensures that the tourism metaverse is accessible and relevant to all (Chi et al., 2024). Further research should examine value co-creation as antecedent, mediator, and outcome in the tourism metaverse, guided by frameworks like TCCM (John and Supramaniam, 2024).

Tourism is considered one of the main economic activities driving the development of countries and prior to the pandemic (2019) was considered the third largest export sector globally, with 54% female participation in employability, generating $1.7 trillion (USD) in export earnings and growing faster than the global economy (World Tourism Organization, 2020; Chon and Hao, 2024).

Several economies have already committed resources to the metaverse. South Korea has invested $167 million to advance its metaverse industry, with the fifth-largest market by 2026, with a focus on arts, culture, education, Kpop and tourism (Wong et al., 2023).

The Metaverse enhances tourism experiences with personalization and tourist participation in value creation as a major opportunity for the industry (Hadi et al., 2023). Immersive experiences form part of the overall visitor experience and are subjectively perceived within the individual's mental realm (Blumenthal, 2020; Choubey et al., 2025).

The essential elements for the connection between the metaverse and tourism are: convergence, ambient intelligence, and joint value creation (Wong et al., 2023). The increased engagement in virtual worlds allows hotels to differentiate through unique experiences, virtual events, and targeted digital marketing (Bilgihan and Ricci, 2023; Palos-Sanchez et al., 2022).

As a blended physical-digital space, the metaverse fosters innovation by enabling collaboration and experiences that transcend traditional boundaries (Bilgihan and Ricci, 2023; Zhao et al., 2024).

Previous research has examined the individual reactions that users experience when immersed in an immersive experience. These reactions focus on emotional aspects, emotional engagement, stress reactions, absorption, participation, and response to adverse situations (Blumenthal, 2020).

This study employs a methodological approach based on a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and a bibliometric analysis, both of which are quantitative (Abarca et al., 2020; Mora-Cruz et al., 2023; Rojas-Sánchez et al., 2023; Marino-Romero et al., 2024). The bibliometric analysis is carried out with the R programme (R Core Team, 2023) and the Bibliometrix library (Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017), considering that the database has already been cleaned and contains 132 articles under analysis.

This study applies data mining to model topics, identify key sources, and evaluate scientific production, differentiating it from other research. (Álvarez-García et al., 2019; Rojas-Sánchez et al., 2023).

For the selection of the databases, the criteria proposed by Rueda et al. (2007) focus on the availability, relevance and reliability of the information. The four stages of a systematic literature review were applied (Marino-Romero et al., 2024). The processing of the database is detailed below.

The period between 2018 and 2025 was deliberately selected to ensure conceptual consistency, empirical relevance, and methodological soundness in bibliometric analysis. In this sense, when searching Web of Science and Scopus, scientific output prior to 2018 was neither consistent nor representative.

1. Conceptual Consistency

   The period 2018 to 2025 appears to have the most scholarship on tourism and management with a metaverse focus. We have to take into account that we refer to Metaverse in the field of Tourism. In tourism, we can say that the term arise as a different scholarly topic after 2018, accelerating its pace in 2021. Looking at what we could tell a birth timetable, we can summarise it as follows:

   • 1992 (origin of the term): the term Metaverse was originally coined in Neal Stephenson's sci-fi novel, “Snow Crash”, published in 1992 (Stephenson, 1992).

   • 2017 (Digitalisation of tourism). From this year ahead, we start to hear about a tendency to digitise the Tourism Sector. Initially in the context of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), but still without a reference to metaverse in tourism. A probe by this is the paper of Yung and Khoo-Lattimore (2019) where we explicitly state that: “Despite the growing interest and discussions on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in tourism, we do not yet know systematically the knowledge that has been built from academic papers on VR and AR in tourism, which means” that there is not yet virtualisation.

   • 2021 and forward. We can say that this period implies an inflection and consolidation of the term in the sector. First, after the rebranding of Facebook to Meta (Meta, 2021), which expands its use in the tourism sector, and second, with the declaration as a disruptive technology in tourism in 2023 (Buhalis et al., 2023).

2. Empirical Relevance

   First, Meta rebranding Facebook has changed the focus of scholarship and practice to the Metaverse and how it can be applied to destination marketing, virtual visits, and operationalizing the Metaverse (Buhalis et al., 2023; Dwivedi et al., 2022). Second, the period of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) has accelerated the digital transformation of the tourism industry, including remote showcasing, immersive pre- and on-site enhancement, and online co-creation (Organization, 2020; Sigala, 2020).

Taking into account all this, the period between 2018–2025 encompasses the greatest extent of applicable evidence for policy and managerial practice.

1. Methodological soundness

   The application of bibliometric techniques (co-word networks, topic modelling, performance mapping) relies on uniformity in vocabulary and consistency in the design of studies. Restricting the analysis to a recent and consistent time frame enhances the interpretability of the clusters, minimises the ambiguity concerning the terminology pertaining to the metaverse and the prior literature on VR/AR, and facilitates the clear replication of the search filters and indicators.

Initially, a Boolean search was performed in the main databases of Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus with the terms: “Metaverse” OR “Immersive Experience” AND “Influencing Factors” AND “Tourism” resulting in a total of 5,675 articles, with 5,110 coming from WoS and 565 originating in Scopus (Table 1).

In Web of Science, the initial search of 5,110 articles was refined by index (SCI-E and SSCI), subject categories, period 2018–2025, document type (articles), and language (English), reducing it to 434 articles. In Scopus, the same filters were applied, reducing the number of articles from 565 to 312. These criteria seek to maintain scientific rigour and focus on current and relevant production.

Following key aspects of the PRISMA methodology (Page et al., 2021), 748 articles were reviewed considering their impact factor, titles, abstracts, keywords, and citation level, to ensure their relevance to the topic. After this filtering process, 142 articles were selected: 50 from Web of Science and 92 from Scopus.

These databases were analysed in R Studio software (R Core Team, 2023), where the protocol was run to concatenate WoS and Scopus databases, 10 duplicate articles were identified and a final database of 132 articles was generated to be analysed using Bibliometrix - Biblioshiny (Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017) and Orange Data Mining (Demsar et al., 2013). Data processing can be seen in Figure 1.

The study used data mining with Orange Data Mining software and the LDAvis widget to apply Topic Modelling analysis, identifying topics through word clustering and semantic fields. Continuous variables such as the distribution of words across documents and topics were analysed (Sievert and Shirley, 2014). The corpus was preprocessed, eliminating nonsignificant words.

Each article was conceptually analysed using Topic Modelling, a machine learning technique that detects semantic patterns in the use of words. Logarithmic perplexity and topical coherence were used to determine the number of topics to minimise the former and maximise the latter. Topical relevance was considered, recommending an optimal value of 0.6 to obtain meaningful and statistically sound topics (Sievert and Shirley, 2014).

First, an Embedding process was carried out with the title and abstract data. Document Embedding analyses the n-grams of each document in the corpus, obtains the embedding of each n-gram using a pre-trained model for the selected language, in this case English, and a vector is obtained for each document by aggregating the n-gram embeddings using one of the available aggregators (Asudani et al., 2023).

Second, with the obtained embeddings dimension results, we apply the cosine distance calculation technique, t-SNE, which creates a visualisation using t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE). t-SNE is a dimensionality reduction technique, similar to MDS, where points are mapped into a 2D space by their probability distribution (Silva and Melo-Pinto, 2023). Stochastic neighbour embedding with t-distribution (t-SNE) is a statistical method for visualising high-dimensional data by assigning each data point a location in a two- or three-dimensional map (Silva and Melo-Pinto, 2023). It is based on the stochastic neighbour embedding originally developed by Geoffrey Hinton and Sam Roweis, where Laurens van der Maaten and Hinton proposed the variant with t-distribution. It is a nonlinear dimensionality reduction technique for embedding high-dimensional data for visualisation in a low-dimensional two- or three-dimensional space (Silva and Melo-Pinto, 2023).

According to Figure 2 and Table 2, the analysis covers articles published between 2018 and 2025 from the core Web of Science and Scopus collections. We identified 132 articles published in 55 scientific journals that address topics related to the metaverse and the tourism sector. As shown in Figure 2, scientific production in this field has experienced a high level of interest, generating an increasing trend from 2022 onwards.

The average citation per article corresponds to 28.16% (Table 2). Keywords in titles total 315 words, and those established by authors are 488 (average 3 per article). The average co-authorship is 3.52%, reflecting collaboration in the field.

The level of interest in publishing on tourism and metaverse topics has experienced an interesting growth from 2022 to the present, supported by an annual growth of 18.77%. The top six sources publishing scientific content on tourism in the metaverse are the following journals (Table 3).

Of the total of 132 articles, 421 authors have participated. Figure 3 shows the 10 authors with the most publications on the topic. The most important author is Fei Hao, from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who has published three high-impact papers on Metaverse and Tourism. The second author has made three contributions. Jungsun Kim is a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The third author has also made three scientific contributions to the topic under study: Thich Van Nguyen, Professor at the Institute of Scientific Research and Banking Technology, Ho Chi Minh University of Banking.

Figure 4 shows the behaviour of two critical variables, the number of articles, which shows the scientific output per author, and the number of citations per author. A necessary behaviour is that Ahmad W and Jafar R stand out as the principal authors with the highest number of citations.

Following Lotka's law (Lotka, 1926), which analyses the frequency of publications of an author in each field of research out of the total number of authors (Table 4) shows that 7.4% have made at least two scientific participations in this period, 91% corresponds to 383 authors who have participated in at least one publication on the topic under study.

Research in the field of Metaverse and Tourism has adopted diverse perspectives. For example, the most cited articles globally, as can be seen in (Table 5), highlight the work of Tussyadiah et al. (2018), Wedel et al. (2020) and Marasco et al. (2018).

Research on value creation in the metaverse applied to tourism explores user motivations and adoption challenges (Hong and Cho, 2024; Chi et al., 2024). Hong and Cho (2024) identified five main motivations for using the metaverse, including the search for benefits and extended social interactions (Agnihotri et al., 2024). However, Chi et al. (2024) modelled barriers to metaverse adoption in hospitality, highlighting security and privacy as major concerns (Chi et al., 2024). Other studies adopt qualitative approaches through interviews to understand the drivers and barriers of the metaverse in tourism (Chen et al., 2023). Various theories and models, such as UTAUT2 and innovation resistance theory, have been used to explain adoption and attitudes toward immersive technologies such as virtual reality and the metaverse (Cham et al., 2023).

In Figure 5, the scientific output in tourism highlights terms such as “Tourism, impact, experience, tourism destinations, virtual reality, technology, China, Covid-19, technology adoption, and tourism behaviour’. China leads the research, followed by other countries.

According to Figure 6, China, the United States and the United Kingdom are the leading countries in scientific production on metaverse and tourism. They have collaborated closely with other nations such as Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and India.

This topic modelling identifies five topics and contributes to the scientific community's reflection on the topics that are mostly being researched (Table 6). It also identifies gaps that could be explored to improve value creation for the user and the business sector to design value experiences.

In this research, the Latent Dirichlet allocation technique (LDAvis) was applied to identify these latent themes by analysing the summaries of the different studies and categorising them into five topics (Hino and Fahey, 2019).

Topic 1 was identified as Metaverse and Tourism Transformation. These keywords, obtained through the topic modelling of scientific papers, suggest a focus on the intersection of the metaverse and the tourism and hospitality industry (Figure 7). Therefore, they reflect a research focus on how the metaverse is transforming the industry, addressing aspects such as technology adoption, user experience, sustainability, and changes in consumer behaviour.

The articles that make up this topic refer to how the metaverse presents a new frontier for value creation in the travel and hospitality industry, transforming how users interact and experience tourism in a personalised way (Agnihotri et al., 2024). The metaverse facilitates the creation of digital economies where users can buy, sell, and exchange virtual goods related to their trips, such as NFT collectables (Lee et al., 2024).

The creation of digital twins allows offering 3D virtual tours, enhancing the booking experience (Milanesi et al., 2024). The metaverse becomes a platform for virtual trade fairs and exhibitions, providing travel companies with new ways to market their services (Batat, 2024). Implementing technologies such as blockchain and NFTs also introduces new ways of transacting, ticketing, and identification within the metaverse (Agnihotri et al., 2024). The metaverse complements physical travel, enhancing the traditional industry through new interactions and value generation (Table 7).

The second topic is the metaverse and technology adoption in Tourism (Table 8 and Figure 8). The scientific articles that make up this topic suggest a focus on the intersection of the metaverse with the tourism industry and the adoption of emerging technologies.

This topic focusses on how the metaverse transforms tourism, addressing technological adoption, experience, virtual representation, and theoretical models to understand the changes.

An important finding that supports this topic concerns the models used to understand metaverse adoption in tourism, including UTAUT-2 and the TAM (Kılıçarslan et al., 2025).

Enabling conditions are an essential pillar that tourism providers must ensure for the metaverse industry to gain importance in the sector (Calderón-Fajardo et al., 2024). The metaverse presents itself as a new educational frontier with unlimited opportunities for interactive learning and global classroom experiences in tourism education (Akyürek et al., 2024).

3D modelling and gamification in the metaverse make it inclusive for people with physical or economic limitations (Yu et al., 2024). Motivations for using the metaverse in tourism include curiosity, the need to show off, socialisation, learning and education (Kılıçarslan et al., 2025). Creating immersive experiences that people perceive as valuable and are willing to pay for is crucial to capitalising on the tourism metaverse (Calderón-Fajardo et al., 2024).

The metaverse adds value at all stages of the tourism product, generating new opportunities and requiring operating models adapted to immersive digital environments. Developing immersive and personalised experiences in the metaverse can serve as a key differentiator in the tourism market, attracting generations such as Z and Millennials (Calderón-Fajardo et al., 2024; Assiouras et al., 2025).

Incorporating metaverse technology into niches such as space exploration, creating transparent platforms, and addressing accessibility barriers has significant potential (Beheshti et al., 2024). The metaverse creates commercial opportunities in emerging markets, demanding new content and the adoption of AI and audiovisual technologies (Yu et al., 2024).

Promoting the tourism metaverse should highlight its timeless, spaceless nature and potential to serve niche markets such as the elderly and disabled (Yu et al., 2024).

Topic 3 is entitled Immersive Tourism and Value Creation. These keywords, obtained through topic modelling of scientific papers, suggest a focus on the intersection of tourism with immersive technologies and the metaverse (Figure 9).

The articles that comprise it showcase research on how virtual and immersive technologies, especially the metaverse, are transforming the tourism industry for value creation. Studies address the tourist experience, virtual destination representation, marketing strategies, and consumer behaviour. They suggest an interest in how these technologies can offer alternative and potentially more sustainable travel experiences.

This topic highlights how technologies are presented as indispensable tools to improve the tourist experience and generate new forms of value, Table 9 (Cham et al., 2023; Prados-Castillo et al., 2024). VR engages consumers, promotes destinations, and transforms experiences in hotels, museums, heritage, and tourism branding, positively influencing (Cham et al., 2023) (see Table 10).

VR experiences created with next-generation wearable devices positively and significantly impact intentions to visit sites and attractions in a destination (Marasco et al., 2018). VR quality—visual appeal and emotional engagement—strongly influences user intentions (Marasco et al., 2018; Yersüren and Özel, 2023). Using VR to build a favourable destination image is more effective than traditional approaches (Kim et al., 2022).

Digital technologies turn museums into interactive platforms, facilitating value co-creation and generating sustainable tourism experiences and development (Massari et al., 2024). Co-creation of value, facilitated by immersive technologies, is considered fundamental for the sustainable growth of the tourism industry (John and Supramaniam, 2024).

The fourth theme addresses immersive technologies for sustainable tourism and heritage, focussing on the intersection of metaverse, culture, and sustainability and prioritising user experience (Figure 10).

They reflect research on how the metaverse is revolutionising tourism and cultural heritage preservation, addressing aspects such as sustainability, user experience, technology adoption, and impact on consumer behaviour. Immersive technologies explore new ways to experience and preserving heritage, promoting more sustainable tourism.

Immersive technologies (AR and Metaverse) drive sustainable tourism and heritage, generating new forms of value creation (Cranmer et al., 2023; Adnan et al., 2024). The Metaverse, in particular, has the potential to revolutionise sustainable tourism practices by aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), offering immersive experiences that educate, promote equality, and reduce environmental impact through virtual journeys (Adnan et al., 2024).

This technology can facilitate self-transcending emotions, leading to value co-creation and mitigating co-construction in sustainable tourism (Assiouras et al., 2025). AR, on the other hand, is revealed as a strategic tool for sustainability in cultural heritage attractions, operating under the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework by generating economic (new opportunities, efficiency), social (increased accessibility, preservation of knowledge) and environmental (sustainable use of infrastructure) value (Cranmer et al., 2023). Virtual tours and contextualised interactions attract broad audiences, enrich the experience, and preserve heritage through digital reconstructions (Behera et al., 2023; Cranmer et al., 2023).

The fifth theme is recognised as the Impact of the Metaverse on Tourism and Hospitality (Figure 11). The articles that comprise it focus on the intersection of the metaverse and the tourism and hospitality industry and reflect research on how it is revolutionising the industry. They address aspects such as immersive experiences, new marketing strategies (Maldonado-Lopez et al., 2024), the transformation of destinations and hotels, and the impact on consumer behaviour.

The studies explore how these technologies can offer new, potentially more sustainable, and accessible ways of experiencing tourism, reinforcing the value proposition that tourism businesses can offer.

Virtual reality has become a key marketing tool for travel agencies, as it influences tourists' decision-making by creating attractive mental images of destinations and thus affecting their final choice (Hao et al., 2025). AI, Web 3.0, and avatars are revolutionising the industry by providing users with immersive and personalised experiences (Table 11).

Perceived usefulness emerges as a crucial driver of the platform's practical benefits, whereas perceived enjoyment drives the emotional gratifications derived from the experience (Jo, 2023).

Immersive storytelling in the metaverse increases presence, interaction, and immersion, enhancing the image and visits to the tourist destination (Zhang and Wang, 2023).

The aesthetics, commerciality, community, creativity, efficiency, immersion, interoperability, personalisation, privacy, and testability of the metaverse define the customer experience in virtual environments (Rahman et al., 2025).

As part of the study, it is essential to examine the information to understand the conceptual structure and the main elements that comprise each cluster. In Figure 12, the dendrogram reveals three major thematic clusters: marketing, technology adoption, and user acceptance. Technology adoption connects tourism, sustainability, and the metaverse. User acceptance, linked to social networks, focusses on satisfaction, experience, and technology adoption. These findings suggest that the success of virtual reality in tourism depends both on effective marketing and on the user acceptance and sustainable integration of new technologies (Sepe et al., 2024; Rahman et al., 2025).

It is evident in Figure 13 that the separation into three main clusters is complete. The first, in green, integrates “tourism”, “virtual reality”, and “tourist behaviour”, reflecting a strong relationship between immersive technology and behaviour in tourist destinations (Jiang et al., 2024). The second, in blue, highlights “virtual reality”, “satisfaction”, and “experience”, indicating that technology adoption depends on user experience and perception (Jafar et al., 2024). The third group, in pink, connects “social networks” and “consumption behaviour”, underlining the role of digital platforms in the promotion and adoption of technologies (Massari et al., 2024).

In addition, “sustainability” and “metaverses” appear more isolated, suggesting emerging areas that are still in consolidation.

It is essential to identify the categories of themes using centrality and density, for this, it is necessary to clarify that the density of a theme indicates its progress, while centrality describes the degree of relationship between the different themes (Esfahani et al., 2019).

The thematic map in Figure 14 reveals that “virtual reality”, “impact”, and “adoption” are driving themes: highly developed and central to the field, as are “Tourism”, “tourist destination”, and “virtual reality”. On the other hand, basic themes such as “Reality”, “Behaviour”, “Involvement”, “Metaverse”, “Immersive”, and “Human Computer Interaction” are fundamental but still in consolidation. “Sustainability”, “cultural heritage”, and “heritage tourism” emerge as themes in decline or incipient growth, requiring more attention. Finally, “destination image” and “decision making” are niche, specialised, and mature themes with less cross-cutting impact. This analysis suggests that research is geared towards strengthening the adoption of virtual reality in tourism, while areas such as sustainability and metaverses offer future opportunities.

The Annotated Corpus Map provides a two-dimensional visualisation of the document using a scatter diagram. Documents are displayed as a set of points, each with the x-axis attribute value determining its position on the horizontal axis and the y-axis attribute value determining its position on the vertical axis. The widget groups the documents according to the annotation configuration and assigns keywords to each group. Keywords are extracted using the TF-IDF method (Chen, 2024).

A Gaussian mixture model was employed, which assumes data generated by multiple Gaussian distributions with unknown parameters. It generalises k-means clustering by incorporating the covariance structure and centres of the underlying distributions (Reynolds, 2009).

The corpus evidences a comprehensive transformation in tourism and culture driven by emerging technologies and generational demands (Table 12 and Figure 15). For example, C1 (sustainability) stands out as a transversal axis, indirectly connecting with C3 (virtual reality in destinations) and C4 (adoption of AI in hospitality). C2 reveals a shift in brand strategies towards consumer-centric augmented experiences. C5 underscores the urgency of rethinking museums for Generation Z. The configuration suggests that technological innovation is not isolated, but co-evolves with ethical values and new forms of engagement. These findings offer a critical roadmap for future interdisciplinary research.

At the discussion level, the main findings reveal a significant annual growth of 18.77% in the scientific output on tourism in the metaverse, underlining the field's growing relevance. Identifying leading authors and journals, such as Fei Hao of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, provides a basis for understanding the current research landscape. However, it is crucial to highlight the main research areas and concepts identified for value creation.

The study explores the creation of value in the tourism metaverse, focussing on motivations like social interaction and key concerns such as security and privacy.

Thematic modelling analysis reveals five main themes that inform value creation and its impact on strategic business decision making. Topic 1, Metaverse and Tourism Transformation, highlights how the metaverse is transforming the industry, addressing technology adoption, user experience, sustainability, and changes in consumer behaviour.

Topic 2 focusses on ease of use, which is identified as a critical factor in tourism users' acceptance of metaverse technology. The metaverse is also presented as a new educational frontier and a revolutionary marketing tool for destinations and cultural heritage.

Topic 3 provides insights on how technologies are considered indispensable tools to enhance the tourist experience and generate new value forms, such as engaging consumers, marketing destinations, and selling services through virtual reality (VR). Personalization of trips, social interaction, and feedback collection in immersive environments are key to improving the tourism experience and creating value.

Topic 4 contributes to the idea that immersive technologies, such as AR and the Metaverse, are fundamental tools for sustainable tourism and heritage. They offer new ways of creating value by educating, promoting equality, and reducing environmental impact through virtual journeys.

Topic 5 provides insight into how virtual reality is a powerful marketing catalyst for travel agencies. By allowing tourists to experience destinations in advance, VR influences tourists' decisions and increases their motivation to travel. Personalisation, immersive experiences, and a positive brand image are benefits of adopting the metaverse in tourism.

Keyword co-occurrence and thematic mapping highlight VR and adoption as core themes, with success anchored on marketing, user acceptance, and sustainable tech integration in tourism.

Our review can be synthesised in Table 13 in the CCM map from constructs, contexts, and measures, which is practical for research-and-design staging. Each row connects a focal construct (the theoretical lever) and the tourism contexts in which it is most salient (archetypal use cases) and a tight set of measures of outcomes (KPIs) for summative and equivalent assessment. In this way, the CCM map articulates standardising what to test (construct), where to test it (context), and how to test it (impact KPI). In this way, Table 13 bridges theory and practice. It helps scholars construct testable propositions and choose their designs (e.g. field experiments or longitudinal panels) and helps managers set pilots with success thresholds and risk safeguards. It also supports the readiness × expected value portfolio by providing the measurement foundation for prioritising and scaling interventions.

This CCM table brings together the frameworks, relevant tourism contexts, and a streamlined collection of measurable results to facilitate a systematic and consistent assessment across different studies and contexts. It supports the alignment of interventions with standard KPIs (visitor experience, operations, business outcomes, and governance), which builds the premise for measurement with the foregoing variables to shift the prioritisation of an initiative to the readiness x expected value framework, design disciplined pilots with specific pre-set thresholds, and to scale under an evidence-based rationale. The framework also promotes clear and replicable reporting, cross-destination benchmarking, and the integration of accessibility, privacy, security, and interoperability as design constraints.

Looking back to all the previous knowledge that we have seen in this manuscript, we can consolidate the preceding results into four concise takeaways.

1. A decision-centric analysis. Our research summarises the body of the literature into five value-creation topics, concerning to decision-relevant insights.

2. Construct-Context Measures (CCM) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) set. Our investigation offers the connection between what to study (constructs), where to apply it (tourism use cases) and how to evaluate it (KPI), allowing future researches a theoretical body to compare other evidences.

3. Managerial lens (readiness x expected value). We offer a playbook to the tourism managers as a playbook to diagnose, pilot, and scale these systems.

4. Research Agenda. We offer a concise four-step method (Theory, Context, Characteristics and Methods TCCM) linked to the previous KPI to advance in the decision-making process of tourism activities.

In conclusion, the present research underlines the significant and growing scientific attention to applying the metaverse in the tourism sector, evidenced by a robust annual growth in output. The literature review reveals that value creation emerges as a central research focus, exploring user motivations and barriers to technological adoption.

The results of the thematic modelling highlight five main areas that define the transformation of tourism by the metaverse: the transformation of tourism itself, technology adoption, immersive tourism, and value creation (the most prevalent theme), the use of immersive technologies for sustainable tourism and heritage, and the overall impact of the metaverse on tourism and hospitality. Particularly relevant is the potential of the metaverse to offer immersive and personalised experiences that transcend physical limitations, allowing users to interact with destinations and services in innovative ways. Virtual reality (VR) is a key technology that influences tourists' decision-making and enhances the experience at multiple stages of the travel cycle.

The co-occurrence analysis and thematic mapping confirm that VR and 'adoption' are central and highly developed research themes. However, sustainability and full integration of the metaverse still present significant opportunities for future research. Ultimately, the successful application of metaverse in tourism will depend on effective marketing strategies, prioritisation of user experience and acceptance, and sustainable integration of these disruptive technologies.

This study has certain limitations due to its nature as a systematic review and bibliometric analysis, particularly because it relies on previous research available in databases (Web of Science and Scopus). Therefore, there may be relevant work in other sources that has not been considered. Future research could expand to other databases and explore adoption barriers in tourism, particularly regarding privacy and security. Longitudinal research could provide valuable information on the evolution of technology adoption and its long-term effects on tourism behaviour. It is essential to advance the integration of the metaverse with sustainable tourism practices, develop robust predictive models, and explore innovative business models. Finally, the analysis of ethical and social impacts represents a line of great relevance for future studies.

This article offers essential practical and theoretical implications for the tourism sector. From a practical perspective, it provides detailed guidance to companies on emerging trends in the metaverse, facilitating informed strategic decisions and enabling a better understanding of consumer behaviour in immersive environments by placing the user at the centre of the strategy. From a theoretical perspective, it identifies emerging themes for future research, strengthening the conceptual basis for value creation in tourism through immersive technologies.