IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i17p7722-d1734124.html

Virtual Reality as a Green Tourism Alternative: Social Acceptance and Perception

Author

Listed:
  • Kinga Stecuła

    (Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland)

  • Mateusz Naramski

    (Department of Economy and Informatics, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland)

Abstract

Growing environmental challenges and the need to practice sustainable human actions and attitudes make it necessary to search for new solutions that can minimize the negative impact of human activity on the environment. This also refers to the tourism industry. In this article, the authors propose the use of virtual reality (VR) to visit any destination worldwide as a potential green alternative to traditional forms of travel. The aim of this study presented in this article was to analyze public acceptance and user perceptions of VR as a tool supporting or replacing real-world tourism. This study involved 215 people who used the Google Earth VR application to visit their chosen destinations around the world. Respondents also completed a two-part survey (before and after the VR experience), in which they assessed, among other things, the realism of the VR visiting and the overall VR experience and expressed their opinions on the role of VR in tourism. The results indicate that while VR is not yet widely recognized as a full-fledged substitute for travel (46% of respondents stated that VR would not replace real travel but could be a good complement), it was rated as useful for people who cannot travel (79.1% of respondents) and before trips (79.1% of respondents). The realism of the Google Earth VR application received an average rating of 3.679 on a scale of 1 to 5, with a median of 4. This study addresses the yet unexplored area of VR in tourism, which has great potential given that the results show a quite positive attitude of participants towards using the application enabling virtual travel—nearly three-quarters of the sample (73.9%) expressed a willingness to return to VR-based sightseeing experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinga Stecuła & Mateusz Naramski, 2025. "Virtual Reality as a Green Tourism Alternative: Social Acceptance and Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-30, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:17:p:7722-:d:1734124
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/17/7722/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/17/7722/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Royston, 1995. "A Remark on Algorithm as 181: The W‐Test for Normality," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 44(4), pages 547-551, December.
    2. Ya-Yen Sun & Futu Faturay & Manfred Lenzen & Stefan Gössling & James Higham, 2024. "Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Dario Bertocchi & Francesco Visentin, 2019. "“The Overwhelmed City”: Physical and Social Over-Capacities of Global Tourism in Venice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Murooka, Taichi & Kumeyama, Kanta & Taniguchi, Mamoru, 2025. "Differences in choice of transportation mode by residents of 15-minute cities according to destination amenities: Break away from car dominant city," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    5. Katircioglu, Salih Turan & Feridun, Mete & Kilinc, Ceyhun, 2014. "Estimating tourism-induced energy consumption and CO2 emissions: The case of Cyprus," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 634-640.
    6. Liwen Xia & Mengyuan Qiu, 2025. "How Are Travel E-Commerce Platforms Becoming Sustainable? A Discrete Choice Experiment Based on the Technology Acceptance Preferences of Elderly Tourists," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Ryan Yung & Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore & Leigh Ellen Potter, 2021. "Virtual reality and tourism marketing: conceptualizing a framework on presence, emotion, and intention," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(11), pages 1505-1525, June.
    8. Pedro Dorta Antequera & Jaime Díaz Pacheco & Abel López Díez & Celia Bethencourt Herrera, 2021. "Tourism, Transport and Climate Change: The Carbon Footprint of International Air Traffic on Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Flavián, Carlos & Ibáñez-Sánchez, Sergio & Orús, Carlos, 2021. "The influence of scent on virtual reality experiences: The role of aroma-content congruence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 289-301.
    10. Zhengan Zhu & Colin Michael Hall & Yue Li & Xinyi Zhang, 2025. "Exploring the Impact of Virtual Reality on Tourists’ Pro-Sustainable Behaviors in Heritage Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hao Li & Yun Tong, 2025. "Developing a quantitative analytical framework for carbon neutrality in tourism-dependent regions," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Qin Lai & Bin Guo & Ting Wu, 2026. "Virtual reality: the complementary or substitute for intention to visit the destination," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-28, June.
    3. Zaman, Khalid & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Loganathan, Nanthakumar & Raza, Syed Ali, 2016. "Tourism development, energy consumption and Environmental Kuznets Curve: Trivariate analysis in the panel of developed and developing countries," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 275-283.
    4. repec:rbs:ijbrss:v:14:y:2026:i:9:p:12-22 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Chien-Ming Wang & Tsung-Pao Wu, 2022. "Does tourism promote or reduce environmental pollution? Evidence from major tourist arrival countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3334-3355, March.
    6. Setareh Katircioglu, 2022. "Estimating the role of urban development in environment quality: Evidence from G7 countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(2), pages 283-314, March.
    7. Arbulú, Italo & Lozano, Javier & Rey-Maquieira, Javier, 2017. "The challenges of tourism to waste-to-energy public-private partnerships," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 916-921.
    8. Nikoletta Kaszás & Bálint Jakab & Krisztina Keller, 2026. "Rethinking Tourism Sustainability Certification: a Circular Economy Approach - Analysis of the Circular Economy Criteria for Sustainability Certificates in Tourism," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Aleksandra Łapko & Aleksander Panasiuk & Roma Strulak-Wójcikiewicz & Marek Landowski, 2020. "The State of Air Pollution as a Factor Determining the Assessment of a City’s Tourist Attractiveness—Based on the Opinions of Polish Respondents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    10. Aydin, Mucahit, 2022. "The impacts of political stability, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth on tourism in Turkey: New evidence from Fourier Bootstrap ARDL approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 467-473.
    11. Minglu Wang & Shanshan Liu & Lingling Hu & Jong-Yoon Lee, 2023. "A Study of Metaverse Exhibition Sustainability on the Perspective of the Experience Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, June.
    12. Navneel Shalendra Prasad & Nikeel Nishkar Kumar, 2022. "Resident Perceptions of Environment and Economic Impacts of Tourism in Fiji," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    13. Yong He & Peng He & Feifei Xu & Chunming (Victor) Shi, 2019. "Sustainable tourism modeling: Pricing decisions and evolutionarily stable strategies for competitive tour operators," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(5), pages 779-799, August.
    14. Nuez, Ignacio & Osorio, Javier, 2019. "Calculation of tourist sector electricity consumption and its cost in subsidised insular electrical systems: The case of the Canary Islands, Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 839-853.
    15. Jun Liu & Mengting Yue & Fan Yu & Yun Tong, 2022. "The contribution of tourism mobility to tourism economic growth in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(10), pages 1-24, October.
    16. Muhammad Haseeb & Muhammad Azam, 2021. "Dynamic nexus among tourism, corruption, democracy and environmental degradation: a panel data investigation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 5557-5575, April.
    17. Seker, Fahri & Ertugrul, Hasan Murat & Cetin, Murat, 2015. "The impact of foreign direct investment on environmental quality: A bounds testing and causality analysis for Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 347-356.
    18. Yu-Ke, Chen & Hassan, Muhammad Shahid & Kalim, Rukhsana & Mahmood, Haider & Arshed, Noman & Salman, Muhammad, 2022. "Testing asymmetric influence of clean and unclean energy for targeting environmental quality in environmentally poor economies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 765-775.
    19. Mehdi Ben Jebli & Slim Ben Youssef & Nicholas Apergis, 2019. "The dynamic linkage between renewable energy, tourism, CO2 emissions, economic growth, foreign direct investment, and trade," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 28(1), pages 1-19, December.
    20. Waaje, Abdul & Roshid, Md Mustaqim & Islam, Sohidul & Chandra Bhowmik, Reday & Rahaman, Muhammad Abdur & Hassan, Md Mahedi, 2025. "Tourism, trade, energy, and economic development: Drivers of ecological footprint in the World’s top tourist destinations," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(3).
    21. Sadia Bano & Mehtab Alam & Anwar Khan & Lu Liu, 2021. "The nexus of tourism, renewable energy, income, and environmental quality: an empirical analysis of Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14854-14877, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:17:p:7722-:d:1734124. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.