Source: A Brief History of the Metaverse

History tends to repeat itself, especially in tourism.

Twenty years ago, as the World Wide Web “broke ground,” it was expected that online travel agencies (OTAs) would replace all traditional travel agencies. Today, however, they successfully coexist, and if the metaverse becomes widespread, the tourism industry can also draw benefits from it and continue to improve.

Today, in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), characterized by rapid digitalization and accelerated innovation, you can smell an atmosphere of fear.

Will robots replace hotel staff? Will people vacation in the metaverse? Will AI take away our jobs?

The answer is absolutely no. New technologies will not be hindered, and if robots do enter basic roles, other jobs will be created. It’s time to re-find positioning and that’s it.

Metaverse Reality

“In the simplest terms, the metaverse is the internet, but in 3D.” Deloitte Chief Disruptor Ed Greig said it about its benefits as a form of digital interaction, where “connected virtual experiences can simulate the real world or imagine the world outside of it.”

I’m in Ed’s camp because, like me, he believes that the metaverse is “a tool to connect us as humans to our planet.”

The metaverse is a medium for sharing stories and making connections, and in the travel industry, that’s all we are. So, what are we waiting for?

In a recent blog, WTM looked at “6 Ways to Use Virtual Tours in Your Marketing Strategy”.

A virtual tour is an experience that enables individuals to explore new locations without having to physically travel to them. It combines aspects of virtual reality with travel principles and combines a range of immersive experiences involving devices from mobile phones to VR headsets, in other words, the metaverse we refer to.

Unique Sales Tools

The scope of using the metaverse to market destinations and products is enormous. Instead of replacing the travel experience, it whets the appetite and, literally, sells “dreams” or desires, which, as the blog points out, is a marketing tool that needs to be taken seriously.

For example, travel agencies can partner with hotels, tourism boards, and experience providers to offer virtual tours of accommodations, destinations, attractions, and more. By connecting potential customers or customers with these places, this is a new source of travel inspiration.

Knowledge platform Revfine points to how the metaverse can enhance the booking experience, providing engagement that websites can’t provide.

“Booking in the metaverse may be more like visiting a brick-and-mortar travel agency, allowing users to ask questions (real or virtual) agents, negotiate deals, combine products and pay in a simple and convenient way,” Revfine said. ”

“Even if customers arrive at their destination, they can still use the metaverse to ask questions, order food and services, or see attractions and experiences that they can book through the metaverse.”

Experiencing a place in the metaverse can also increase bookings. Thomas Cook’s virtual reality tour of Manhattan, for example, offered shopkeepers a taster of the city, resulting in a 190% increase in related bookings.

Many organizations also offer virtual 3D versions of real-life spaces and locations. For example, you can now explore the Louvre Museum in Paris in VR. Virtual visitors can view exhibitions, enjoy concerts, and even meet friends and take a virtual stroll around the museum.

The travel industry can sell destinations and tours to customers who plan to visit in person through the metaverse, as well as enhance the experience of tourist attractions and offer them to those who cannot travel abroad – it is developing a whole new market.

Attracting and training talent

In a recent blog post at WTM, I discussed the industry’s outdated approach to talent management and benefits. This includes the way it currently handles recruitment.

Given the shortage of employees in every industry, especially in Europe, many companies are looking to the metaverse and virtual reality to speed up the selection and training process.

The obvious starting point is to hold travel and tourism job fairs and recruitment events in a 3D environment.

Virtual performances can help travel companies, hotels, airlines, and many other industry organizations position themselves as a great place to work. Potential talent can browse job fairs to gather information, meet with virtual company representatives, and even attend initial interviews or aptitude tests.

Once employees are hired, the metaverse can assist and expedite the training/boarding process, with companies including Hilton and most recently Emirates announcing such initiatives.

Virtual Training in Action

Named the second best place to work in the world by Forbes in 2020, Hilton believes that when its team members truly empathize with the guest experience, they will provide the best hospitality service. To foster this empathy, Hilton partnered with learning and development companies to create innovative learning experiences using the VR platform Oculus.

SweetRush developed VR scenarios to help train hotel team members to better handle challenging interactions with guests. Team members wear Oculus headsets and play the role of guests in virtual scenarios, including front desk interactions, meeting room setups, room service, breakfast service, and departures to understand what it’s like when interactions are mismanaged, resolved correctly, or handled in ways that exceed expectations.

According to the initiative’s Oculus for Business case study, Hilton says that using VR, it can reduce classroom training from 4 hours to 20 minutes, and 87 percent changed their behavior after team members received VR training.

Meanwhile, Dubai-based Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, has signed an agreement with Cubic Global Defense, which traditionally offers realistic military training systems, to train its cabin crew using virtual, immersive and game-based solutions.

Emirates will be the first commercial airline to take advantage of the system, which combines “high-fidelity visuals with engaging synthetic environment technology.” 3D classroom stations and touchscreen interactions will also be integrated into the training program.

As an airline considered to be at the forefront of innovative airline customer experience, Emirates has also announced plans to soon launch NFTs and “exciting experiences in the metaverse” for its customers.

Learning Opportunities

The role of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the metaverse will continue to grow in new and surprising ways, but it is unlikely to replace physical travel.

As the use of these new technologies becomes more widespread and complex, there is an opportunity to assess what industry challenges they can overcome and what solutions they can provide. As Deloitte’s Ed Greig puts it, we should also “learn from the mistakes of the internet,” not only to understand how best to use new technologies, but also to determine how to mitigate potential negative impacts, from abuse to cybersecurity threats.

It is now clear that the metaverse opens new doors to increased customer and talent engagement, and it’s a 3D world worth exploring.