Virtual Tourism Microdosing: A New Prescription for Tourist Wellbeing

Research on the hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing benefits of virtual tourism is experiencing exponential growth. However, few studies have considered its potential as a positive psychological intervention to enhance wellbeing. Through the lens of the recently conceptualised DREAMA model of tourist wellbeing, this conceptual paper critically examines the nuanced role of virtual tourism in enabling wellbeing. This research contends that microdosing, an innovative concept which initially emerged in psychotherapy, can be applied through virtual tourism as a non-pharmacological intervention to foster the DREAMA dimensions of wellbeing. This paper is amongst the first to apply the concept of microdosing to tourist wellbeing in virtual travel. The paper proposes a conceptual model designed to articulate how regular engagement with short, immersive virtual tourism experiences can integrate the therapeutic benefits of travel into everyday life. The manuscript introduces microdosing as a low-barrier, low-risk way to engage with virtual tourism experiences and potentially mitigate issues such as cybersickness.