Everything You Need To Know About Virtual Travel

One of the weirdest and cleverest ways that people are tackling the Covid-19 pandemic around the world is by embracing virtual travel. Since many popular vacation destinations are major coronavirus hotspots, the only current means of visiting them is through a simulated experience. Read on to find out everything you need to know about virtual travel.

What Is Virtual Travel?

Virtual travel simulates physical travel experiences. It often consists of virtual tours comprised of videos or images of a foreign destination that you can absorb from your home. These days, virtual travel experiences come with all kinds of effects, from music to realistic sound effects that would genuinely be heard at the destination in real life. Some virtual tours even contain narration and text.

The travel industry has suffered immensely due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Major cruise lines around the world have been disrupted while most countries have enforced tough travel restrictions stopping people from leaving their cities and states as well as their countries. In response to the travel restrictions, there has been a huge increase in the interest in virtual travel. It’s devastating to those who love to travel that all physical travel plans have currently been put on hold, but luckily, there are amazing virtual travel experiences available to cure wanderlust.

The Benefits Of Virtual Travel

Many would argue that real travel could never be replaced by a simulation. Still, virtual travel does have a range of benefits. In addition to satisfying the wanderlust of those who physically cannot travel, it also provides a solution to the growing problem of overtourism, which has resulted in many of the world’s most popular destinations suffering at the hands of mass tourism.

We have already seen the positive impact a decrease in tourism has had on the world’s most popular destinations. Cities like Venice, which were once thrashed by human activity, are now prospering thanks to the travel restrictions. The more people who turn to virtual travel over physical travel in the coming months, the greater the benefits will be on the environment. Among other effects, popular travel destinations are likely to experience cleaner air and water as a result of fewer people visiting.

The Downsides Of Virtual Travel

You can’t argue with the environmental benefits of virtual travel. But there are still downsides to experiencing travel digitally rather than in the traditional sense. 360-degree virtual reality videos must be experienced through headsets that are expensive, heavy, and uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. There are a range of travel apps out there that are comfortable for long-term use, but they don’t provide a realistic simulation that makes a person feel as if they are actually in another place. In other words, virtual reality apps often aren’t enough to permanently quench a person’s wanderlust.

Virtual travel might provide all the sights that you’d get while physically traveling, but at this stage, it can’t replicate smells, touch, or taste. Many virtual tours only last for a few minutes, which isn’t comparable to a vacation that lasts for days or even weeks. While virtual travel allows would-be tourists to see and hear things, it doesn’t allow them to do things, such as sampling street food in India, climbing up Switzerland’s Matterhorn, or riding a horse through the Irish countryside.

Virtual Travel After The Pandemic

With the surge in virtual travel popularity, many are asking the question: is virtual travel here to stay? It is unlikely that virtual travel will permanently replace traditional travel. Put simply, seeing and hearing a destination through a screen or a virtual reality headset does not satisfy the needs that push most people to travel in the first place. However, as the usage of virtual travel increases during the indefinite period of travel restrictions, technology may advance and virtual travel might become a more prominent part of the travel industry.

While we anticipate that travel restrictions will eventually be lifted, allowing most people to physically travel again, there are still many who are unable to travel in the traditional sense. Those who are sick or injured or incapacitated in some way, such as the elderly, would benefit from virtual travel options even after the pandemic has run its course.

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