Hi everyone!
In late February I posted a topic regarding my thesis research, where I asked for survey participants and general insights into what you thought about the relation between MSFS and travel. Today, I’m happy to present the results of this research.
First of all though, I want to thank those of you who filled out the survey or participated in the forum discussion. Without you, I could not have written this thesis.
Here is the abstract of the thesis:
The concept of virtual tourism, which can be defined as a digital approximation of a tourism experience, has gained renewed attention due to the travel restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Several studies describe the relation between people’s travel intention and their virtual tourism experiences. However, much is still unknown about how this relationship works. This thesis therefore combines Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour and Guttentag’s Substitution Acceptance Model to provide insight into the current and future potential of virtual tourism to inspire or substitute real tourism.
In pursuance of empirical evidence to support any assertions on this subject, the latest iteration of Microsoft Flight Simulator was used as a surrogate for a virtual tourism experience to investigate the potential of VT from home to complement or substitute real tourism. Its users filled out a survey regarding their experiences with the simulator, attitudes, (social) environment, individual characteristics, and travel intention. In addition, many joined online discussions which yielded qualitative information to complement the survey’s quantitative data. Lastly, three industry experts were interviewed to gain a wider perspective on the issue.
The results show that an individual’s experience with the specific destination, attitude towards VT, subjective norms, and barriers to real travel are all important in relation to travel intention based on the VT experience. Similarly, the quality of the experience is related to personal context and, in turn, related to the extent to which VT can replace or inspire real tourism. However, the findings also indicate that these two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, and that VT can serve both functions, i.e. replacing and inspiring travel. Lastly, consideration of VT as a travel replacement does not have a significant relation with travel intention, which implies that VT from home can currently serve as travel inspiration and a way to virtually travel while not reducing the desire for real tourism.
If anyone is interested, the full report can be downloaded here. I will also present the results via live video stream this coming Monday at 15:30 (Amsterdam time) - this is the link to the MS Teams meeting.
Questions or comments are more than welcome!