Virtual Tourism and Its Potential for Tourism Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Rapid growth of ICT has resulted in the development of innovative tools that could extend opportunities for tourism destination marketers and tourists. ICT-based tools expand the tourism product and tourism experience into the realm of virtual tourism (VT). Since the tourism product is intangible and cannot be pretested by tourists before purchase, VT makes it possible to sense the experience through virtual reality (VR). This chapter focuses on how VT could be explored to realize its full potential, particularly by Sub-Saharan African countries. The first section reviews the literature on VR and its relationship to VT and examines ICT components that support VR and VT. The second section explains reasons for interest in VT and identifies development efforts. The third section examines tourist attractions that could be marketed as VT in the sub-region and also identifies markets. The fourth section identifies problems and makes suggestions to address problems in VT development. The fifth section recommends areas for VT research, and the final section provides concluding remarks.