The Effect of Virtual Reality Usage on the Guest's Booking Intention at Five Star Hotels in Luxor

The application of virtual reality (VR) in the hospitality industry is a recent technological innovation shaping the sector globally. This study examined how VR usage influences the guests' booking intentions at Egyptian five-star hotels. A questionnaire was distributed to 402 guests at five-star hotels in Luxor, focusing on VR-based hotel bookings and virtual tours. Data analysis utilized two approaches: Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via Warp PLS 8.0 for hypothesis testing and SPSS 22 for descriptive and demographic analyses. Results revealed high acceptance of VR among guests, who perceived it as useful for planning stays (mean = 4.29), enjoyable (mean = 4.26), and easy to use (mean = 4.25). Notably, VR significantly enhanced booking intentions by allowing immersive exploration of hotel features. While the study highlighted VR’s potential in five-star hotels in Luxor, its focus on a single geographic region (Luxor) may limit generalizability. These findings have encouraged hotel managers to integrate VR into marketing strategies to improve customer engagement and conversion rates. The research findings offered a robust theoretical and empirical contribution to understand VR adoption in the Egyptian luxury hospitality sector. By confirming and extending existing research, this discussion highlighted how VR’s usability, enjoyment, and perceived usefulness influenced adopting it among guests.