The adoption of metaverse-related technologies in tourism companies

The tourism industry has been forced to develop technological innovations to maintain its competitiveness and offer attractive services in a context in which the Metaverse is an emerging concept with little development explored in the literature. In order to identify the factors that influence its adoption by tourism companies, research was carried out based on the TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework applied to 278 Spanish companies. The statistical tool PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data employing the SmartPLS 4 software, previously assessing the validity and reliability of the scales. In addition, this symmetric approach was complemented with a complexity analysis using the fsQCA methodology, allowing us to approach business decision-making from a non-symmetric perspective. The results indicate that technological competence, relative advantage, knowledge of the decision-maker, top management support and competitive pressure are the most important determinants of Metaverse adoption, confirming the existence of different solutions that can lead to the same outcome. This study offers theoretical and managerial implications relevant for the future of the tourism sector.