Video game-induced tourism as a pathway for improving the tourist experience

The chapter aims to summarize contemporary knowledge about video game-induced tourism and make the first theoretical frames based on the review of the literature and of the video games market. The starting point for the analysis is what we already know about film-induced tourism and the search for similarities and differences between these two forms of tourism. The outcome of the study includes two main issues. The first is the distinction between three ways how different places might be presented in video games: realistic presentation (what is seen by players is very similar to pictures taken directly in presented places), transferred presentation of a place (real elements of a place were the base for the creation of a picture presented in a video game.), and extended presentation of a place (presentation of places as producers imagine them looking like in the past or in the future). The second conclusion is that potential destination marketers should consider that players are often people highly engaged in IT technologies and the use of such technologies in creating products for them as well as in communication with them is required and effective. Additionally, the most popular video games create a much stronger emotional attachment of users than in most movies.