What if you could take a fully immersive tour of potential meeting destinations, inspect hotels and their amenities, or compare business class cabins to premium economy – and feel as though you’re actually there? It may soon be possible via the metaverse, a 3D version of the internet integrating the best in virtual, augmented, and digital technologies. From a computer or other device, users can move virtually through realistic environments. Think of it as a collective virtual shared space providing enhanced experiences through any type of device.
BCD’s new report, The Metaverse and Travel: The Future of Travel, explains what the metaverse is and explores its applications, potential and implications for business travel.
What’s inside the report?
- The basics of the metaverse
- What the metaverse means for business travel
- Why we should take action now
- What business leaders think of the metaverse
- Ways the metaverse could disrupt the travel industry
- The metaverse in action: airlines and hotels
The metaverse and business travel
There may be many years before we experience the metaverse’s full potential, but travel companies are already deploying some aspects of its capabilities. Broadly speaking, the metaverse has two core uses within travel: inspiration and demonstration. The inspiration comes from helping travelers familiarize themselves with a destination. For travelers, it may mean reduced travel stress, more productive trips and better decision-making. Travel managers can benefit by using the metaverse to inspect and experience the products they’re offering travelers. This could involve a virtual visit to a hotel or boarding a virtual aircraft to check out the differences between an airline’s premium economy and business class products. It can help meetings planners, too, as they consider a selection of venues for an event.
Is the metaverse a replacement for travel?
The metaverse won’t replace travel. While, we can all appreciate the convenience of virtual collaboration (especially in the past two years), BCD research found business travelers recognize that virtual is not the only way. By creating immersive workplaces in the metaverse, companies may be able to improve employee experiences and satisfaction when they do collaborate virtually. Further, the metaverse’s potential value in terms of virtual tourism, immersive trip research and virtual collaboration shouldn’t be underestimated.
Watch this: The metaverse and the future of travel
In this video, BCD Travel’s Director of Research and Intelligence Mike Eggleton runs through the key topics covered in the report. Using the metaverse, travelers can get familiar with new destinations before traveling there, check out hotel facilities before booking, immerse themselves in a business class cabin, and much more.
