Virtual Reality in the Transformation of the Tourism Industry: Focus on the Process of Creating Immersive Applications

This study explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) in tourism, focusing on the development and implementations of immersive applications, evaluating the user experience and its impact on marketing and heritage preservation. Beginning with the concept of VR and its most notable aspects. As well as, previous case studies related to the development of immersive applications and their wide application in the tourism industry, highlighting their benefits. To this end, an exhaustive review of the literature was carried out. Through a thematic analysis of relevant literature, the research identifies key strategies for creating effective VR applications, emphasizing the use of technologies, interactive user interfaces, and authentic data integration. The findings highlight the importance of user experience in determining the success of VR applications, demonstrating that immersive environments significantly enhance user satisfaction, engagement, and memory retention. Moreover, VR's ability to provide virtual previews of tourist destinations has proven to influence travel planning and decision-making. Also, key findings include various evaluation methods, such as standardized questionnaires and detailed scales, such as Likert scales, self-determination theory (SDT), and technology acceptance model (TAM), which evaluated user experience in VR applications and allow measuring travel intentions, presence and positive emotions, providing valuable information on the motivations and satisfaction of users. Results indicates that consideration of technological limitations, market needs, and user feedback can optimize the effectiveness of VR applications. The results point out the potential of VR to transform tourist experiences, having users as active participants in the creation of immersive tourist environments.