Virtual Reality in Tourism: Entertainment or a Paradigm Shift?

Abstract

Fromthe analysis of possible tourism configurations, based on the Virtual Reality [VR],this textseeks to understand if the human relationship with the technological interfaces of VR in tourism is perceived as entertainment, or if there is a paradigmatic change in this context. It is assumed that changes in the social and economic arrangementscause transmutations in tourism (Schwab, 2016; Molina, 2003; Rejowski andYasoshima, 2002). If, in the pitch of tourism studies, there are characteristics of movement /displacement, length and pleasure, the advent of the Internet and the technological advances that open the field for Virtual Reality may be [re]configuring tourism, as these featurespropose also new forms of displacement, permanence and pleasure, from the use of technological resources. Therefore, what at first sight isunderstood as forms of entertainment may actually be establishing new ways of doing tourism as well as aparadigm shift.