Throughout the course of 2025, we at Travel Daily Media were able to experience first-hand how virtual and augmented reality have helped drive the recovery of the global tourism sector in the post-pandemic era.
For the most part, the use of these technologies has focused on entertainment: practically every theme park from the Disney Parks to Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter experience uses it in one way or another to immerse visitors into fun realms beyond the ordinary.
Yet, we somehow feel that VR and AR technology is underutilised in today’s travel and tourism sector.
Indeed, entertainment is but the tip of the iceberg where the use of these technologies is concerned, and we can see how these may be applied into various aspects of travel and tourism, essentially changing the way things are done.
Evolving applications
In his talk during ITB Asia 2025, ACI HR Solutions chief executive Andrew Chan mentioned that virtual reality tech is already being used in different ways throughout the travel and tourism sectors.
Some of you may recall that these technologies were used to train flight crew throughout the pandemic years, but the global aviation sector has long used them for flight simulators that have helped train pilots for over a decade now.
Since then, particularly during the pandemic, the use of virtual and augmented reality has spread throughout the travel and tourism sectors, being a notable training tool for hospitality professionals in the absence of in-person training sessions on site.
Today, we've seen how these technologies are being used by companies like AStation to provide an alternative to conventional entertainment options, as well as theme park and museum attractions.
During our recent stint at BE @ Penang 2025, we also encountered a company that drew delegates into an immersive virtual environment, opening the minds of MICE professionals to the possibilities the technology could bring to the sector.
Into the future
With all things taken into consideration, we see manifold uses for virtual and augmented reality in the diverse aspects of the global tourism industry.
As we have already seen the practical application of these technologies to enhance tours in Macau, along with the reconstruction of historic sites like the Mater Dei (Church of St Paul), future uses could extend to the following:
- In wellness tourism, VR / AR environments could be used to bring participants into a state of meditation or calm. In a similar vein, we also see its use for accessible tourism, particularly when used in calm rooms at airports for the neurodivergent;
- For medical tourism, these technologies can be used to simulate procedures, thereby decreasing fear and anxiety among patients as they gain a clearer understanding of their conditions and the means to be used for their correction;
- We also see their application in MICE, enabling event organisers and showrunners to practically walk through simulations of the venue and setup well before the event, essentially going in to see areas for improvement or recalibration well beforehand; and
- In terms of sustainable tourism, VR and AR environments can give travellers the opportunity to experience endangered or protected sites without needing to be physically within them, thus protecting these areas and mitigating damage.
As with all innovations, the possibilities offered by virtual and augmented reality are practically endless; only our imagination limits what we can do with them.
