An analysis of how consumers experience virtual tours : A virtual tour of the Faroe Islands

Abstract: When the whole world was in lockdown and tourism was at a standstill due to the COVID19-pandemic, the Faroe Islands found an alternative way to let people experience their destination. They started the “Remote tourism” campaign which offered live virtual tours where users from all over the world could navigate the locals who were equipped with GoPro cameras on their helmets. But how satisfying can such an experience be? How do users experience virtual tours? And how do such virtual tours promote the willingness to visit a destination? This study aimed at answering those questions by conducting semi-structured interviews with members of Generation Y. The participants of the interview watched the recorded versions of the virtual tours offered by Visit Faroe Islands and were asked about their experience. There are different factors for a satisfying tourism experience, namely presence/telepresence, enjoyment, involvement, and flow. The results showed that these factors were also relevant to the virtual tourism experience. However, the virtual tours were experienced differently by different participants and the results cannot be generalized. Yet, this will likely be the case for the traditional tourism experience as well. The same tourism experience will be perceived differently by every individual. The results also showed that the virtual tours did promote the willingness to visit the Faroe Islands for the majority of participants – or it did not change to the worse at least.