Discussion and conclusions
The rapid progress in information and communication technologies has offered tourism destination organizations new tools to attract and retain visitors. In particular, the introduction of cutting-edge wearable devices provides significant opportunities for boosting the potential of VR systems in generating awareness, interest and appeal in the destination they feature. This study focused on ‘next-generation’ VR experiences with HMDs and their influence on visit intentions. Particularly, our purpose was to investigate whether the PVA of VR experiences with HMDs and the user's EI had positive impacts on the behavioral intentions to visit a cultural tourism site at the destination. Based on the study results and subsequent discussion, several conclusions are offered and theoretical and practical implications are provided below. Study results revealed that the PVA of the VR experience had a positive and significant impact on behavioral intentions of users. In particular, this result indicates that the Fontanelle Cemetery, as seen through the virtual experience enabled by the HMD, was attractive enough that users were motivated to visit, recommend, and find out more information about the actual site. Furthermore, users recognized the cinematic experience with the Oculus Rift as a way to easily experience the Fontanelle Cemetery in a virtual environment, encouraging them to make a real visit. This result is consistent with previous research indicating the importance of the visual aspect of VR experiences (Guttentag, 2010) and its role in influencing destination visit intention (Chung et al., 2015; Tussyadiah et al., 2016). This study result also offers new insights into the relationship between PVA and behavioral intentions to visit the site. In particular, this study builds on the research by Chung et al. (2015) in the area of information technology, which demonstrated a positive effect of visual appeal on destination visit intentions through the technology perception variables of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The results of the present study add to this previous research by demonstrating the direct positive relationship between PVA and behavioral intentions.
