Examining the Effects of Metaverse Tourism on Environmental Sustainability

Year 2024, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 303 - 310, 30.06.2024

Gözde Özdemir Uçgun

Abstract

Metaverse is not only a fairly new technological development, but also a very current research topic. Metaverse appears in various fields such as education, health sector, defense industry, tourism, aviation etc. While some studies examine the economic dimension of the Metaverse, some researches have considered the effects of Metaverse and related technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, extended reality, artificial intelligence on guest satisfaction or visitor experience. This study was conducted to determine the effects of Metaverse tourism on environmental sustainability. In-depth interview technique was used as a data collection method. The snowball sampling method was used to obtain the opinions, experiences and future predictions of experts and knowledgeable people in the field through semi-structured interview forms. The findings were examined with content analysis, and most participants find Metaverse tourism environmentally sustainable, and those who disagree point out the energy consumption and carbon footprint of technologies such as blockchain, data mining and cloud computing that support these platforms. This study presents the most striking comments of the participants and suggests future researchers examine the subject with economic, social and cultural sustainability dimensions.

Keywords

Metaverse, Tourism, Artificial Intelligence, Environmental Sustainability

Ethical Statement

This study has fulfilled all relevant ethical guidelines including statements of approval / consent.

Supporting Institution

This research is part of a project carried out within the scope of 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey – TUBITAK.

Project Number

TUBITAK 2219 - 2022/2 International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program - Project No: 1059B192201693

Metaverse Turizminin Çevresel Sürdürülebilirlik Üzerindeki Etkilerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Metaverse yalnızca oldukça yeni bir teknolojik gelişme değil, aynı zamanda çok güncel bir araştırma konusudur. Metaverse, eğitim, sağlık sektörü, savunma sanayi, turizm, havacılık vb. gibi çeşitli alanlarda karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bazı araştırmalar Metaverse'ün ekonomik boyutunu incelerken, bazıları Metaverse, sanal gerçeklik, artırılmış gerçeklik, karma gerçeklik, genişletilmiş gerçeklik, yapay zekâ gibi ilgili teknolojilerin misafir memnuniyeti veya ziyaretçi deneyimi üzerindeki etkilerini ele almıştır. Bu çalışma Metaverse turizminin çevresel sürdürülebilirliğe etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Veri toplama yöntemi olarak derinlemesine görüşme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları aracılığıyla alanında uzman ve bilgili kişilerin görüş, deneyim ve gelecek tahminlerini elde etmek amacıyla kartopu örnekleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular içerik analizi ile incelendiğinde, katılımcıların çoğunun Metaverse turizmini çevresel açıdan sürdürülebilir bulduğu görülmüştür, buna katılmayanlar ise ilgili platformları destekleyen blockchain, veri madenciliği ve bulut bilişim gibi teknolojilerin enerji tüketimine ve karbon ayak izine dikkat çekmektedir. Bu çalışma, katılımcıların en çarpıcı yorumlarını sunmakta ve gelecekteki araştırmacılara konuyu ekonomik, sosyal ve kültürel sürdürülebilirlik boyutlarıyla incelemelerini önermektedir.

Keywords

Metaverse, Turizm, Yapay Zekâ, Çevresel Sürdürülebilirlik, Teknoloji

Project Number

TUBITAK 2219 - 2022/2 International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program - Project No: 1059B192201693

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