Virtual reality in tourism education: A case study

With the increasing amount of research and development conducted in the use of virtual reality (VR) in both vocational training and language learning, these two areas seem to be both represented in the context of tourism education. This study was conducted with 22 students in the Department of Global Tourism at a university in western Japan. The study was designed not only to detect English learning affordances, but also to glean insight into practical benefits and issues of using VR for tourism studies in the department curriculum. The students were trained to create virtual tours of their hometowns with Tour Creator, a VR platform developed by Google. Students then guided classmates on virtual tours of their hometowns in English, using smartphones and mini VR glasses. Following the virtual tours, all the students responded to a user experience questionnaire with Likert-type and open-ended items on virtual presence, perceived usefulness and future use of VR, as well as the pros and cons of the activity among others. The findings of this study have important implications for the use of virtual reality in tourism education in EMI (English-Medium Instruction) contexts. The experience also suggests other potentials in using VR in tourism education.