Is Virtual Reality the next big marketing tool for Muslim-friendly tourism?

Photo credit: E3; The Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 16, 2015, Los Angeles, California: A group experience virtual reality at the Oculus booth at E3 / Lauren Elisabeth / Shutterstock.com

With devices like the Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive on the horizon, travel companies such as STA Travel, Thomas Cook and Marriott are looking to the new advances in virtual reality to boost their sales. How can services targeting the Muslim consumer take advantage of this emerging trend?

VR is an immersive experience in which a person interacts with a simulated alternative reality. The application of VR spans many fields, from gaming to military and sports training, and it is increasingly being applied to travel as well.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has referred to VR as “the next major computing and communication platform after phones.” According to Digi-Capital’s Augmented/Virtual Reality Report 2015, by 2020 the VR market is projected to reach $30 billion, and VR will transition from early adopters to mass consumers.

KEY PLAYERS

One of the main players in this market is the Oculus Rift, a VR headset that was initially funded on Kickstarter in 2013 and then quickly acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. The devices are now available for pre-order on Oculus.com for $599 and are expected to ship in July 2016.

Another VR headset, currently in development, is the Sony PlayStation VR. According to PlayStation’s website, it is expected to be released around Q2 2016.

Among the prominent names in augmented reality is Magic Leap, a headset that allows you to overlay virtual 3D objects onto real-world objects in your field of vision. According to the company website, Magic Leap secured a $542 million Series B funding in 2014 from investors led by Google. The company hasn’t yet announced a release date for the product.

Microsoft’s HoloLens is an augmented reality headset similar to Magic Leap. According to Microsoft’s website, the developer edition is priced at $3,000 and will begin shipping during the first quarter of 2016. Microsoft has not announced when it will become available to consumers.

Google Cardboard is a simple, low-cost VR viewer made out of cardboard and mounted on a mobile phone. In early 2016, Google announced via a company blogpost that it had shipped 5 million viewers and that there have been 25 million installs of Cardboard apps from Google Play.

VR IN THE TRAVEL MARKET

VR is beginning to feature as a marketing tool for travel and tourism service providers, with a high potential impact on sales. Some early trends indicate that it is already helping travel companies gain a competitive edge. For instance, UK-based Thomas Cook experienced a 190 percent sales increase for New York excursions after partnering with Samsung to provide a 360-degree VR experience of New York to customers at London-based Samsung stores.

Across the pond, U.S.-based STA Travel partnered with Brand USA to offer 360-degree experiences of U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, through the Oculus Rift. An STA double-decker bus toured the United Kingdom and was used as a pop-up shop. Passers-by were presented with a VR experience of U.S. destinations and then offered special deals to encourage them to book trips.

Hotels are also seeking to enhance guest experiences using VR. In 2015, Marriott hotels launched the first-ever in-room VR travel experiences, dubbed “Vroom Service”. Created in collaboration with Samsung, the service provides Samsung Gear VR headsets and headphones and allows guests to order VR experiences in their rooms.

The service was piloted at New York’s Marriott Marquis and London’s Marriott Park Lane properties. The VR experiences immerse viewers in people’s travel experiences in destinations such as the Chilean Andes, Beijing and an African village.

These developments have also led to the emergence of marketing specialists who focus on providing VR travel experiences. YouVisit, for instance, creates and distributes customized virtual reality video content for travel companies such as Carnival Cruise Line and destinations such as New York City, Berlin, London, Rome, Paris and Croatia.

VR POTENTIAL FOR HALAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM 

Allowing an immersive “try before you buy” experience makes VR a natural fit for travel marketing. However, applications of virtual reality in the travel space are still in the experimental phase and have seen little application so far in Muslim-friendly tourism.

To some, VR is a natural step forward. “This technology can be used in the same way as pictures and videos to market the service, it is just in [the] case of halal tourism - an extra focus will be on highlighting the halal-friendliness features of the service,” said Elnur Seyidli, CEO of HalalBooking. Seyidli stressed that the same opportunities and limitations apply to VR in general tourism as to halal tourism.

Graphic designer and VR enthusiast Peter Gould, on the other hand, encourages people to open their imagination to the potential for VR and related technologies, including the applications for travel. He has started a project called IslamImagined.com and predicts that from 2017 onwards, as simulations will become more advanced and realistic,  there will be disruptions across a whole range of applications, including travel experiences.

“The companies that embrace the technology from now will have the ability to create some incredible simulated travel experiences that can act as a teaser for the real thing. Even using 360 sphere cameras in hotel rooms and popular locations today could be quite effective,” said Gould.  

Some applications of VR technology in marketing Muslim-friendly destinations are already apparent.

Destinations can develop and market phone apps that can be viewed using Google Cardboard.

Travel companies can offer 3D travel experiences at consumer travel shows.

Resorts can offer a VR tour of their facilities, including experiences of facilities such as water slides and water sports.

VR tours of heritage sites can be intertwined with storytelling to create interest and a desire to visit the actual site.

The Mecca 3D app already provides a virtual tour of Mecca, and a VR experience for Hajj and Umrah will allow first-time pilgrims to be better prepared for their visit.

Although still in its early stages, Muslim-friendly travel and tourism service providers have a real opportunity to partner with marketing agencies such as YouVisit and hardware providers like Samsung to attract and increase Muslim visitors, going beyond static pictures to provide a realistic, virtual experience.