Virtual reality in tourism: how novelty and inspiration relate to VR reuse in destination marketing

Purpose This study aims to investigate how novelty in virtual reality (VR) tourism experiences influences users’ intentions to reuse VR applications for the same destination (i.e. same destination VR reuse intention), with travel inspiration serving as a mediating mechanism. As the tourism industry increasingly embraces immersive technologies, understanding the psychological processes that influence repeated VR engagement becomes crucial for destination management. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a quantitative approach to examine the relationships between novelty, inspiration and VR reuse intentions. The study conceptualises inspiration as a complete episode encompassing both “inspiration-by” (being inspired by the VR experience) and “inspiration-to” (being motivated towards future action). Findings Results demonstrate that novelty in VR experiences significantly increases the same destination VR reuse intention. This relationship is partially mediated by travel inspiration. The findings confirm that novelty is directly associated with reuse intention and indirectly influences it through inspiration. Originality/value These findings advance existing knowledge on digital tourism experiences and provide practical insights for managers. The study emphasises the importance of designing novel VR experiences that inspire users, ultimately fostering VR reuse intention and repeated engagement in the pre-travel decision-making process.